Paw Prints
by Rainbow Sins
Summary: A girl with the ability to change into animals is recruited into the Brotherhood. She stumbles upon a world quite different from her previously abusive homelife. Mutants, good or bad? Who's to tell when your supposed teammates hate you? Pietro/OC
1. Control

Paw Prints

Chapter 1 - Control

**O**ur story begins with a short teenage girl who stood in what looked to be a bedroom. This girl had long, wavy dark brown hair and light green eyes. She was slim and pale. Almost sickly looking. She shivered lightly.

Abbygale's stomach felt like it was being twisted. Sweat made a thin blanket across her forehead, after all she had never been so scared in her entire life. Today was the day. Any time now. She knew the routine. Of course she did, this was her daily schedule. Waiting in fear until her parents came home to beat her again. Over and over. Why not after all? Why not beat the freak? Abby knew she deserved everything thing she got. She deserved this torture for not being normal. For not being perfect. But not today. No, today she planned to change her life. It was time to give Abby's parents a taste of what they'd been giving her for the last five years.

Of course it hadn't always been this way. Her parents had once been...sort of nice. They weren't affectionate people. They had high expectations and expected them to be fulfilled, no matter what the cost. Private schools, tutoring, after school lessons; everything! She knew how to play the piano, the flute and a little bit of the violin. She knew the languages of German, Russian, Japanese and Latin. She could score a home run in baseball, cook a meal to rival a five-star restaurant and so much more. And of course, most importantly to her parents, she was a grade A student. Or she had been at least. All of that stopped when the accident happened. Really, it was a mix of blurs and meshed colours like one of the portraits she'd painted with the expensive supplies her parents had given her for her ninth birthday. Still though, she remembered one thing the most; blood.

**XXFlashBackXX**

Young Abby sat in her chair, her green eyes half-lidded, her short dark brown hair bushed out of her face with a few simple black clips. Her mouth was closed and her eyes did not look at her teacher._ 'Ugh I'm so tired! I don't want to do this anymore! Why can't I just be like a normal kid and go home at three thirty?' _Abby thought as she slumped down in her chair in the middle of the classroom surrounded by other kids sitting at other desks. Today had been a long day and once again she stayed after class for the extra lessons her parents had so cruelly bestowed on her. After she would have her evening piano and painting lessons. Abby hadn't eaten since lunch and was tired beyond belief. This was the way it always was. Push, push, push. What if she couldn't go on anymore?

The sound of clapping awakened her twelve year old self from her tragic daydream. _'What could it possibly now? I hope Miss Delim isn't asking me a question, I don't know the answer.' _She thought suddenly alert.

"Break time children! Time to go outside and enjoy the air! Make sure to be back in fifteen minutes!" Miss Delim announced cheerfully. Miss Delim was one of the only teachers in her private school who actually smiled. Most of the other teachers always frowned and were strict with the students. Not Miss Delim though. She was nice. Tall, slightly plump with light brown hair and an always smiling face. Abby thought that if she ever became a mom, she would want to be just like her.

Abby sighed with relief and stood up, shuddering lightly as black spots clouded her vision, making her unable to see a thing. Her brain felt like it was being compressed and she felt dizzy. That always happened to her, whenever she didn't eat or get enough sleep. Her parents told her it was because she was weak. She waited the few seconds it took to pass and followed the other students outside to the pavement. There were no playgrounds at this school. Even if there were, there was no way the children would ever be aloud to play on it. The kids of Partent Private School weren't even aloud balls or skipping ropes or Frisbees. Heck, you would get a detention for sitting on the grass! It was just them alone. Alone Abby was. She never had time to make friends. She was always too busy. Of course in this rich place there were other kids like her, extra lessons and tutors and such but they were more outgoing. Abby was shy. Some of the kids would smile at her and make small talk but she had never been given the chance to make it anything more. There was always something or somewhere she had to be or do.

However a few of the children were mean and nasty as some kids are. A few particular girls who didn't like Abby's looks and excellent grades. Michelle Breakwater, Nona Walker and Lienna Stero were her nightmares. They hated her and Abby had never made a move to make peace either. They would sneer and call her names as she had walked by but they had never done anything else until today. Abby walked over to the far edge of the pavement right before the grass and was about to sit on her usual bench when she heard footsteps and the familiar calls of "Goody, goody Abby, weak as a stray tabby!" Of course a lame line like that wouldn't even make an adult flinch but for the kids they were the line was dynamite. Not to mention the "weak as a kitten" part really hit where it hurt. It was bad enough Abby had to hear it from her parents so often, let alone from the other kids. Abby turned around as Lienna, Nona and Michelle strode up to her, repeating the line like a song as she heard distant laughter from the other kids.

Abby stepped away from the bench and felt her pulse quicken a bit. _'What could they want with me? There's three of them and only one of me!' _She cleared her throat and said over the song, "What do you want with me?" The girls finally stopped their singing and focused directly on Abby. Nona was the first to speak.

"Why we want you gone of course!" She stated in her haughty spoiled voice.

"What do you mean?" Abby asked, having a feeling this was going to get very ugly, very fast.

"Ugh, You're so stupid! We don't want you in this school anymore!" Lienna spoke up in a voice that always sounded like she was pinching her nose while she talked.

"Yeah, it's not fair that your always doing better than us and stealing all our glory! God, do we always have to spell stuff out for you?!" Michelle, the follower of the three snarled in. Abby felt her fear rise. _'Three against one, I'm so doomed.'_

"Well I can't leave!" Abby shot back, trying her best to be brave. "You think I want to be here? No! But my parents make me! I have no choice!" She said hoping to have ended this tirade.

"Well obviously we know _that _weepy Gale." Michelle sneered, using the other torturous name they had made up for her.

"We've got a plan that wont involve your parents! Were gonna drown you in the pond!" Nona squealed, as if talking about going on a shopping spree.

"Yeah! Then we'll get all the awards _and _we wont have to look at your ugly face anymore!" Michelle added, squealing as well. Abby felt terrified. She had no idea that all the girls were planning on doing was just throwing her in the pond, not drowning her.

"No! You can't do that! My parents will call the police!" _'I think.' _Abby thought with uncertainty. Would her parents really care is she drowned?

"Ha! You're parents wont find out! Come on girls!" Lienna shouted pouncing on top of Abby.

"No!" Abby screamed.

That was where things got fuzzy. She remembered screaming, pain, skin, cloth and a warm sticky fluid which she would come to know as blood. That next thing Abby knew Miss Delim was holding her, screaming at her in a voice mixed with anger and fear. Abby then realised she was screaming too, and making an impossible snarling sound. The world spun and she felt herself bend over in Miss Delim's arms and lose whatever she had eaten earlier. There was still an awful taste like a penny in her mouth and red stuff all over her uniform and fingers. Her sixteen fingers! _'Oh my god!' _Abby thought horrified. _'I have too many fingers!' _But as she looked closer she noticed her extra fingers were really long claws. Placed between her normal fingers. Those claws were getting smaller and retreating into her skin quickly. _'I'm a freak!' _She thought in horror. Abby had always loved cats but she had never wanted to be like one! A sob made Abby look away from her hands to where the sound came from. The was Lienna, huddled on the ground between a few other teachers, missing an ear and large chunk of her calf. Not to mention her body looked like it had been used as a scratching post. It was all oozing with blood. She looked over at the other two girls, both looked a little better but also had deep scratchings and what looked to be bite marks. Even more, Nona was missing a finger. It was all so overwhelming Abby felt her whole world go black

After that things went down hill. She was silently dragged to the principals office where her mother was called in from a business meeting out of town. When she came into the office she didn't even look at her daughter. She went straight into the office with the principal and had a discussion which also involved a tape from the outside camera holding the key to what had happened. Mrs. Break was tall and impossibly thin, sort of anorexic-looking. Her hair was dark, dark enough to be mistaken for black. She had a narrow sculptured face with a long nose and thin lips. To Abby, she was the definition of terrifying.

For a long time Abby waited until finally her mother came out of the office and paused on her way out only to say "Come Abbygale." Abby followed her mother out of the school and into the car like the dog she was. The entire car ride was silent. Abby didn't even bother to make an attempt at a conversation. What could she possibly say when she herself didn't know what happened? Her mother knew though. Her mother had seen the tape. Abby wondered what she had seen. It wasn't until her mother pulled into the long driveway of their mansion and opened the door that anything happened.

The second the door closed her mother grabbed Abby by the arm with one hand and let the back of her other hand fly into the left side of Abby's face. Abby screamed in pain and immediately started to crumple to the floor but was held up by her mother's sharp grip on her arm. Mrs. Break left her hand whip across Abby's now red cheek over and over again as she began to scream.

"You little fucking freak! You little freak! You weak little fuck! How could you?! After we spent so much time and money on you! You go and do this! Expelled from the best school in the city! You'll wish you were never born! How are we supposed to explain you to the children's parents?! You little freak!" Her mother yelled and she continually backhanded her child in the face while Abby screamed and cried. Eventually her mother grew tired of abusing her kid and let go of her and left the room. None of the maids hovering around walked over to help Abby. Each and every one of them were tied to the family house hold and only obeyed Abby's parents. They were not aloud to do anything they weren't told to.

Abby layed on the sleek marble floors and cried for a bit until finally she went up to her room and dreaded when her father would be home. Would he do the same thing as her mother had? What was happening to her? What _had_ happened between her the the other girls? What was going on? Abby curled up on her bed. She began drifting mentally into a land of unknown confusion, fear and horror. _'I'm a monster!' _She could not get the vision of her "claws" out of her head. The taste of blood from her mouth. Abby realised she still had her uniform on. She looked at herself. There was dried blood all over her. She let out a small whimper and shed all of them off until she was naked and went to her bathroom to scrub herself raw.

It's wasn't until about ten in the evening that she heard her father come home. She lay still and quiet until she heard her father call her name ten minutes later. She walked quickly to the sitting room knowing that if she took too long she would be in even more trouble. However when she got there it wasn't her, her mother was giving evil looks to, it was her father. Mr. Break addressed her coolly.

"Abbygale it seems your mother is having some sort of meltdown. Go to the kitchens and request some tea to be made for her." He stated, taking no notice of her black and purple face.

"I am not having a meltdown Robert!" Her mother screamed hysterically, which made her sound like a meltdown she was exactly having. "Here, watching this wretched tape should be proof enough!" Abby's mother threw a VHS labelled "school incident" onto the coffee table loudly. Mr. Break went quiet for a few minutes then ordered Abby out of the room to wait in the hallway. Abby wasn't sure if she was relieved or disappointed to not see the tape. She wanted to know what had truly happened but at the same time did she really want to know exactly how much of a monster she now was?

She waited for about twenty minutes, hearing muffled screams from the t.v through the door until finally it stopped and she heard her father's deep voice ring though the room.

"Abbygale, you may now re-enter." For what felt like the millionth time that day Abby felt her heart beat like a drum and sweat glisten on her skin. This was it. She entered into the room and stood in the silence. She stood waiting but no one said a word. Finally her father held out his hand. "Come here Abbygale." He said in his usual cold voice. Abby wanted more than anything in the world to just run away or even to just simply say 'no' but she knew better than to disobey her father. She quietly walked over to father and at the last moment noticed that his belt was it his hand. She barely had time to whimper a small "no" before he grabbed her and swung her over his lap, yanked up her nightgown and started thrashing his belt against her butt and back while saying in a cold and controlled voice, "You are a freak of a daughter. This is what you deserve. You will never know the luxuries of society again. You are no longer our daughter." Abby cried. Why was this happening to her? What had she done to deserve this? The only thing she knew was that it was about to get a whole lot worse.

**XXEnd FlashbackXX**

**T**hings of course _had _gotten worse for Abby. Her parents had moved to a town where no one knew them. Abby was home schooled then. Her extra lessons and tutoring halted. The only place she was aloud to go was their backyard witch was fenced in and shaded in trees. Completely secluded. Completely isolated. Which was fine by Abby's parents. As far as they were concerned the only time she existed was when they felt like they needed a punching bag.

Of course that hadn't been the only incident. Over the course of the years her 'powers' had recurred many times. Each earning her beatings and broken bones worse than the last. However she still had nearly no idea what her powers could possibly be. For 2 years she thought her powers were just to be cat-like or something. But one time when she was swimming her finger and toes had become webbed and her mouth hard. Another she had been playing with a skipping rope one of the maids had snuck her when her parents weren't home and she had grown whiskers and had jumped so high she touched the roof. Most of all was the cat though. Her parents thought she was terrified of her powers which she had been for a while but not any longer. Curiosity had eventually won out a year ago and she had begun trying to activate her powers on purpose. She was pretty sure she could become a panther. _'I think.'_ She thought to herself. She had never fully changed before but she also found that she didn't have to. She could have claws, teeth, the ears, tail and eyes if she wanted to. However changing fully was what she wanted.

She could almost do it too. She found that if when she changed, if she curled her fists they would become paws, and crouch her legs would turn to back legs. Same with her face. She could almost do the full transformation. It had been rather easy once she had accumulated an animal book from the library in her house. She had read up on the black panther, studied everything about it, especially it's anatomy. After she studied it parts and muscles, the way it moved, things became a lot simpler. Only it was draining. So many times she had blacked out or had become sick trying to embrace the monster she was. But no more.

One day Abby had finally been brave enough to sneak onto her father's computer when he wasn't home. Hoping against hope she thought that maybe she just might have some very exotic disease and that the computer would offer her a cure and her life would be perfect. What she found though, was quite different. She had never heard the term 'mutant' before that day but after she found herself thinking it all the time. Once she figured out what a mutant was, and that she was one of them things changed. She found her powers to no-longer be so scary. Other people had powers too. Normal people just like her, who did normal things just like her. Best of all though, was that she was provided with an escape. Looking up on a very detailed page she found out that there was a special place for people just like her in a town called Bayville. A whole country away. Looking into it more she found that the place was called Xavier's institute for gifted children.

After finding out that precious information her life had new purpose. There was a way out! She did have hope. She wasn't alone anymore! The only problem was that she knew her parents would never let her go. Not to mention she would never get the words out of her mouth anyways. Everytime she tried to speak around her parents her mouth would be slapped shut. Her parents did not want to have to acknowledge her. Even seeing her was like the greatest sin in the world to them. But not anymore _'Not ever again!' _Abby tried to think through her impending fear.

They were coming home soon and she was going to teach them a lesson. _'Never ever, ever, again!'_ She heard the doors open and knew her parents would come up looking to beat her in only a matter of seconds. They always worked their stress off as soon as they came home. That way they could happily relax for the rest of the night knowing they had already punished her for existing that day. _'But not anymore! I wont be fucked around again!'_ she thought picturing all the times her parents had ever lay a hand on her. She heard the stomping of the carpeted steps leading up to her ugly, almost empty room. _'Never again! You wont hurt me ever again!'_ She thought viciously her breath quickening in a lighting fury she had never felt before. "NEVER AGAIN!" She screamed out loud as her door crashed open. Before her parents even got a chance to look around the room she was already flying through the air at them.

Her scream turned to a high pitched yowl as she felt her teeth and jaw change. Her legs were already there and as she saw her parents stone cold faces her hands changed as well. _'ears, tail, eyes..' _she immediately stopped counting what had changed the second she collieded into her parents, sending them rocketing into the hallway. All the pain, all the hatred and fury she had buried deep down out of fear all those years were finally resurfacing on Abby. As an animal she smelt death and her teeth longed flesh. After all who was she to deny herself the pleasures she finally deserved. _'This is what happened that day.' S_he thought to herself distantly as her fore claws, back claws, and teeth shredded into her feebly thrashing parents_. 'Except now I'm fully grown' _she thought savagely. Hunger burned. Panther Abby saw red. These annoying prey would stop moving. They were such an easy catch. No playing this time. They didn't amuse her. She would simply kill them.

and Kill them she did.

Chapter 1 end.


	2. Experience

Disclaimer - I don't own the X-men

Warning - This story contains Blood, sweat, and tears. AKA death, gore, sex, blood, angst, abuse etc.

Paw Prints

**Chapter 2 - Experience**

**A**bby woke in a place unfamiliar to her. The first thing she realised was that she was in pain. Severe pain. The night's stars swam in and out of her vision making her stomach plummet then rise. Quickly Abby rolled over on her side and violently emptied her stomach's contents. When she was finished about seven minutes later she rolled onto her back again. The grass felt cool beneath her skin which made her feel a little bit better. Abby sighed attempting to relax. She needed to get her bearings straight and try to figure out what was going on. How did she even get here?

Abby thought deeply and began to recall her last memories. She remembered standing there in her room by the door, recounting her past and feeling an anger she'd never felt before bubble up inside of her. She remembered hearing the thumps of her parents footsteps on the stairs and remembered her pulse doubling it's pace. Most of all she remembered fully changing into a blank panther. Feeling powerful and savage. Her claws ripping, teeth tearing. Suddenly Abby's stomach jerked and she was on her side, vomiting again.

_'I killed them!'_ Abby thought with a feeling of horror. Dread seeped it's way through her body as bits and pieces of her memory came rushing back to her. Screams and yowls filled her head as Abby sat up and looked around. _'Never again! I'll never use my powers ever again! I'm a monster!'_ She thought as she raised herself. Sitting up Abby realised she was in her backyard. She looked over at the house and saw that none of the lights were on. It was an impossible sight. Even when her parents weren't home the maids always were. _'Well if my parents are dead the maids must have fled in fear of being killed too.'_ She thought sadly.

Abby took deep breathes to calm herself and took in her surroundings. It was an ugly sight that made Abby sick all over again. The back door was open and there was a long splattered trail of blood leading from inside to her. Dried and smeared all over herself. Horrifyingly Abby saw that, to her left, not even three feet away from her, was an arm. A very chewed up arm that had been bitten off at the elbow. Abby quickly realised it was the same arm her mother had always used to slap her. It had once looked so strong and threatening. Now it was just a chewed up piece of meat. Abby dragged her eyes away and began the painful process of getting up. The ground swung back and fourth beneath her feet and Abby almost fell but slowly she gained her balance. Everything hurt! Her muscles ached and her bones felt brittle, as if they would snap in half at any moment. It even hurt to blink!

Abby needed to move. There was no way she could just lay in her backyard forever! This was her one and only chance to escape. Her one chance at freedom. But where was she moving to? This hadn't gone the way she'd planned it at all. All she'd wanted to do was hurt her parents. Not kill them. She'd imagined turning into a panther and yowling ferociously at her parents. Hopefully scaring them so badly they'd start crying and begging for their pitiful lives. Then she would tell them that she would spare their lives on the one condition that they'd fly her to Bayville and never come near her again.

But it haden't gone that way at all! She thought shamefully. _'I've murdered my own birth givers.'_ she thought, completly sickened by herself. _'Hey, maybe they're not really dead.' _She thought hopefully as she made her way towards her house. _'Or maybe they are.' _She pondered, seeing an unrecognizable body part in the entrance way. Abby, concluded that there was no way she could continue on a solid course of action without finding out what fate had befallen her parents. So she began the trek up the long, tall staircase that led to her bedroom. The climb was long and quiet. Abby's footsteps were the only sound she heard within the entire house. Abby began to feel afraid. Now that she was truely alone the house seemed creepy and haunted. Not the warm, welcoming kind you saw in the movies.

* * *

**T**hey were dead alright. Abby had finally made it to her bedroom. It had been a painfully slow journey but here she was, standing in a bloody mess. She felt the now familiar feeling in her stomach and emptied anything she had left. The scene was something only a horror film director dreamed of creating. It brought new meaning to the words "Blood and guts." Blood indeed. It was coated and dried on everything. Abby had no idea that someone could even have so much inside of them. As for her parents, they were unrecognizable. Bits and pieces were all over the place. She couldn't tell what was what or who was who. Finally she had to look away. From that moment Abby did the only thing she could think of doing to get through without having a psychotic breakdown. She went into denial, and blocked the entire ordeal from her mind.

Abby began to rummage around her room getting anything she needed. She didn't have many possessions. Her parents had stopped buying her things long ago. She never even received birthday or Christmas presents. Only once, a few months ago, had she been given a miracle. Her mother had coldly marched up to her and dragged her over to her father's computer which a thin, blonde haired man stood beside.

"Your father and I are sick of looking at you in those disgusting clothes. Hugo is here to advise you with online shopping. Buy as much as you wish. It wont change your uglyness of course." Mrs. Break had laughed and walked away. Of course Abby really knew that it was because the last time she had been taken to the emergency room for another broken bone the doctors and other patients had been the ones commenting on the clothes that obviously no-longer fit her. Wondering about how her parents were taking care of her and if social services should be called. Of course her parents couldn't have comments being made concerning them so now she was getting clothes. Abby made sure to buy as much as she could. Other than that Abby had next to nothing. _'Clothes and money are all I really need anyway. The rest will come later.' _She thought pitifully. So Abby gathered her favorite clothes and stuffed them into her old bag and got the hell out of there.

Last and most importantly Abby tromped up even more stairs to her parents bedroom and took down a painting of pretty purple flowers that were not her taste. The room smelled of expensive perfume and was decorated in a variety of beige's. Abby couldn't help but feel a small twinge of relief. She and her parents were nothing alike! But then, was that really a good thing? Behind the painting of purple flowers were, of course, her parents safe. Abby had overheard her father tell her mother the code back when they had first moved in. Abby had made sure never to forget the numbers to unlock it.

Abby nervously punched the numbers into the modernized keyboard that was on the door. Silently praying it would work. Finally there was a small "beep" and the little door swung open. Inside Abby wasn't surprised to see heaps and heaps of cash. She grabbed three wads of it and closed the door and locked it. She wouldn't be so stupid as to take it all. Besides, she guessed she held about a hundred grand anyway. She stood there for a few minutes. Just holding the money in her hand. She was a murderer. Now a thief. What would she do next? Abby shook her head to clear away her thoughts. _'I can't think about this kind of thing now! I have to get to Bayville!' _Abby knew the police would be on their way soon. The maids would be quick to call it in. She had to get out of there before her absense would be noticed. She shoved the money in her bag and realised how she looked. What about her appearance? She truly looked as she was, a monster. Abby dodged into the maids quarters where she showered and put on clean clothes. She cleaned the bathroom of any signs that she'd been there and then packed her bloody clothes with her. She'd have to burn them, but not here. She quickly made her way out and only stopped to pull on her high heeled boots and ran outside down her driveway. She had no idea where to go!

Abby had never seen the outside of her house before. Her parents had never taken her anywhere! Once she reached the end of her driveway she looked both ways down the country road but only saw bush in both directions. She looked at the horizons and saw lights in the distance to her left. _'The town must be there.' _She thought in anticipation. Abby had been planning this for weeks but never had she truly believed she would succeed. But now she had. She couldn't give up now. This was truly it. Abby took off down the road at a run. It had been so long since she'd truely run and knowing her future was right there in front of her, waiting for her, well there was noway she was going to let her heels slow her down!

* * *

**A**fter passing through the countryside Abby ran into a maze of houses. _'Suburbs.'_ She thought gloomily. _'They're impossible to maneuver through unless you know the way.'_ After getting directions from a man who smelled like beer she eventually found herself downtown. Abby stopped at a bench and sat down to catch her breath. Of course she had tired and stopped running quite a while ago but she hadn't slowed her pace much. Walking was just as tiring as running. Her stomach growled painfully and she knew she would have to eat or she would never make it out that night. She knew the last train leaving would be at midnight and she had about two hours to get there. She got up and trudged on down the streets, following a map someone had given her about an hour ago. Who knew people could be so nice!

She continued to make her way towards the station until something caught her eye. A twenty four hour McDonald's sign. Her curiosity peaked. She had always, always wanted to try McDonald's but had never been aloud. Abby grinned the first time that week. Finally! Things would be done her way! She went inside smiling against the evening breeze.

-------

**M**cDonald's was amazing! At first when Abby had walked in the place had overwhelmed her. People in uniform cooking behind the counter yelled out various things to each other as each individual worked their own station. The cashiers, handling the customers with kind words and happy faces. The customers were everywhere, waiting in lines, sitting at the booths, even at this late hour! All of them looked happy and relaxed. Abby had felt like an alien then. All the dark feelings inside of her making her squirm. She wasn't like these people. She just wasn't normal. Then Abby had caught a whiff of someones meal and her stomach gave another pleading, hungry growl. Hunger took over and she forgot all about everyone else. She walked up to the end of the line and waited. Abby looked at the signs hanging overhead and tried to figure out what she wanted. Everything was new to her. She'd never given McDonald's much thought before either. In the end when it was her turn to order she decided to be safe and just stick with a burger. She'd had enough of surprises for one day.

So there Abby sat, outside on a bench looking at what was left of her meal. The fries were gone. They'd been pretty salty but absolutely delicious. Abby could easily see herself getting fat from eating too many of them. The burger was a completely different story though. She'd opened the bun to see what was inside and had seen almost nothing. Just barely a squirt, of ketchup and there was no mustard in sight. The burger patty itself looked like a worn rubber sole of a shoe but Abby's stomach was still hungry and so she ate the burger. In the end surprisingly she decided it hadn't been so bad. Despite the burger's looks it had tasted just fine and had filled her stomach completely. Next time she decided she would get something else though.

Abby looked at the time and knew she really had to get going or she would miss the train and be screwed for life. There was no way in hell she could be caught around this town during daybreak. She took her map out of her bag and opened it up as she began walking down the street. As she scanned the map she began to hear a distant screaming sound in the distance. Slowly it became clear it was a siren as it got closer. It turned into an ear-piercing wail as two cop cars and an ambulance whizzed by her in the direction of her house. _'I've got to get the hell out of here.'_ She thought desperately. _'It's only a matter of time now.'_ She continued to consult the map until she located where she was and far away the train station was.

She walked down the streets at a fast pace trying not to become imersed in all of the sights around her. All the lights, displays and windows filled her with awe. She longed just to be able to spend the evening exploring and becoming aquainted with this town but she couldn't. Abby would never know her "home" town. In Abby's opinion she never even had a home, just a prison.

She made quick time down five blocks before she arrived at the station. As she had predicted the place was nearly empty except for those who were coming or going to work late. Abby kept her head down and purchased her ticket from an old lady who looked to be about eighty. _'Hopefully if asked she won't remember me'_. Abby thought hurriedly. She was late and there were calls for the last passengers to board the train. She quickly handed the ticket man her ticket and boarded the train. The car was nearly empty so Abby had her choice of whatever seat she wanted. She sat down at a window seat away from all the other passengers. This was it. She was going to Bayville. She was finally free.

* * *

**"A**lert! Alert! Mutant detected!" Xavier placed cerebro onto his head and read the newly discovered mutant's stats on the screen.

"What is it professor? Is it a new student?" Jean Grey asked.

"Possibly. It appears this girl is on the move already. We shall go and meet her." Xavier stated calmly.

* * *

**"M**ystique." Magneto commanded. "It appears that the girl you encountered some years back has caught my interest. With discipline and training she should prove to be useful to me." He stated in the shadowed corner of Mystique's office. "Find and recruit her." He said coldly as he placed a file into Mystique's hands.

"The animal child?" Mystique asked curiously as she flipped through the file.

"Yes, her powers are finally developing, quickly. She is already on her way here to find Xavier. Meet her at the train station and intervene her. Do not fail me" He said rumbling the metal in the room before he disappeared.

"Yes Magneto." Mystique stated obediently.

Chapter 2 end.


	3. Choices

**Paw Prints**

Disclaimer - I do not own the X-men

**Warning - Blood, sweat and tears**

Chapter 3 - Choices

**A**bby slept on the train. After the first stop she had ended up with the entire car to herself. _'How lucky.'_ She had thought happily. She had started out the train ride by watching out the window, day dreaming of sanctuary, until her doubts started to sink inside of herself. What if she was different? What if it was all just some hoax? Or worse, what if everything was true, but they wouldn't let her in because of what shed done? What if she was too much of a freak? A nervous worm had tangled it's way into Abby's stomach after that.

What was she going to do with herself? Would she tell these new people what she had done to her parents? Were they safe or would they simply throw her to the cops? Abby sighed. Things weren't as easy as she had predicted them to be. Nothing was going the way she'd planned. She didn't know anything of the world, all she had was book smarts. She had no idea how she was going to find Xavier or even how to approach him. Still Abby knew that she would just have to try. What other choice did she possibly have?

A few hours passed into the wee hours of the morning. Abby did not sleep after though, she was too alert, too nervous and afraid. Finally, at four in the morning her train pulled into Bayville and she got off. The train station was next to empty, a few people got off from a separate car but that was it. The place was otherwise a dark and lonely-looking place. It didn't surprise Abby, no sane person would still be up and out at that time and it was still too early for workers to be traveling. _'Good.' _Abby thought as she began to walk out of the train station. She began a small debate with herself as she made her trek. What would she do that night? It was only a few hours until daybreak. It probably wasn't worth staying at a hotel when she would be leaving it in less than six hours. A woman's voice broke into Abby's thoughts.

"Abbygale Break."

Abby turned around abruptly and saw a group of people she could have sworn weren't behind her a few seconds ago. She stopped and instantly felt terrified. Who were these people? Why were they dressed in strange costumes? How did that lady know her name? What did they want? Were they muggers? The FBI? Abby became paralyzed in absolute fear as the group approached her. The strange-looking group consisted of a pale-skinned woman in a dark suit, a short boy with almost green-looking skin, a tall, rough-looking boy with brown hair, a built boy with silver hair and one enormous guy. All except for the woman wore the strangest outfits Abby had ever seen.

Abby began to shake terribly as they got closer. Finally the woman who had called Abby's name stopped about three feet in front of her. "I know who you are Abby. Do you know who I am?" Abby took a step back. This woman's voice was strong and sounded almost cruel. Like a cat who toyed with a mouse. Abby shook her head.

"Who are you?" The words managed to slip from Abby's lips out of the incredible curiosity she was feeling. No one in the world knew about her, not even her face, she had always been a ghost to society, and here was a complete stranger who knew at least her name.

"I'm someone who can help." Abby gasped and swallowed back her scream. As the women had spoken her creamy pale skin had melted into smooth blue skin. Her dark hair falling to her shoulders, now red. Creepiest of all, her brown eyes had turned yellow, completely. Abby was now noticeably shaking. Who was this...thing? She looked at the boys behind her and they were all smiling and smirking, one was even chuckling, as if it was funny. Abby's heart beat quickly and she absently wondered if she was going to have a heart attack at this rate.

"You see Abby, we're just like you" The woman motioned to the boys behind her and they nodded towards her, looking absolutely terrifying at that point. Abby only glanced at them for a few split seconds before looking at the ground beneath her. She was afraid that if she looked at any of them for too long they would all melt into monsters before her very eyes. The woman walked even closer towards Abby and then leaned in until her mouth was right at her ear.

"Your parents deserved what you gave them Abby." She whispered. Abby didn't bother to attempt to smother her scream that time. She pushed the woman away from her and immediately backed up against the wall behind her.

"Who are you? Want do you want from me?!" Tears began to make their way down Abby's face. These people were scary, she was scared. There were no walls or fences to protect her now. No bedroom door to close. No closet to hide in. Her mind whirled with possible reasons as to how this women knew what she had done just hours previous. None of them were logical.

"To help you Abbygale. To offer you a sanctuary and a safe place to be." The woman approached Abby again, still speaking. "We aren't the only ones who know about you Abbygale. There is another group who is looking for you, hunting you. They also know what you did. They want to trick you and then use you as your parents did. We want to help you escape Xavier."

Abby's head spun frantically it these words. People were hunting her? More people knew what she did? Strangers wanted to help her? "Wait...Xavier? I thought he was supposed to help and offer a refuge for people like me?" Abby felt confused. If these guys weren't part of the institute then why did they want to help her? How could this Xavier be a bad person?

The women left out a sympathetic, pitying laugh. "My dear, do not let yourself be fooled. Xavier tricks and hunts down mutants for torture and experiments. He's building his own army out of of the experiments that survive. We are the other side, the ones who offer sanctuary to the mutants who want no part of it." Abby felt something wrong in the pit of her stomach, the words coming out of the lady's mouth just didn't seen right.

"I don't know...Can I think about it?" Abby needed to sit down and mull this over. She hadn't dealt with people in a very long time, she didn't recognize the signs of a liar or a truth teller. She had no idea what to think now. If this woman was telling the truth Abby needed to make an entirely new plan. She couldn't make any sudden decisions when she hadn't had time think things over properly.

The woman frowned and took a step back. "Well you should think fast, Xavier finds his victims quickly. There is something I also forgot to mention to you. I can help you master your powers."

Abby's head snapped up to stare at the lady. She could help? She could make it so Abby had control? This changed everything. If the lady could help then maybe Abby would never lose control again. Never feel pain again. No longer would Abby feel afraid of herself.

"What do you mean?" She asked no longer shaking. Abby was incredibly curious now, she forgot to be afraid and truly looked at the woman. She had changed, her appearance simply melting into something different. Abby pictured herself doing the same thing and felt a small flurry jump her heart. Was there hope after all?

"I mean like this." The woman backed away from Abby and began to melt again. Her face and body began to change much more drastically than the last time. After a few seconds Abby stood in the presence of a dog and then a rabbit before she stood in front of the blue woman again. Abby gasped but this time it wasn't out of fear. It was of awe. Abby saw the woman smile in what appeared to satisfaction. Indeed, Abby felt a pang of raw admiration and longing. How she wished she could change like that. Abby had struggled for so long, for an entire year, and she still wasn't sure if she could get the panther thing right, let alone another animal.

"I'll let you think about it. Take a walk if you wish, one of my boys will accompany you as a guard. Come back when you have your answer. We will be waiting for you here. Abby nodded and began to walk away. She felt like she was being swept away on a cloud. This was all so new. So unfamiliar to her. She stepped outside into the darkened, empty streets. Not even a car rolled by. She noticed one of the boys had come out with her, the one with the silver hair. Abby quickly looked away the second her eyes lay on him, she wasn't used to people. Especially not boys.

----------

**P**ietro assessed the girl for what felt like the hundredth time that night. There was no way she was going to last with the Brotherhood if she was stupid enough to believe Mystique. Any bird with the smallest of brains would have seen that Mystique had been lying through her teeth. Though by the look of astonishment and awe that had crossed over her face clearly this chick didn't know what was up or what was down. It was like she had never seen another mutant before.

_'Well, maybe she hasn't.' _Pietro wondered to himself. There were many mutants he knew who hadn't seen another of their kind until coming to Bayville. Bayville seemed like the big mutant fort. There were so many of them after all. Pietro looked at the girl and truly wondered if she would be the newest edition to the Brotherhood. She seemed weak and timid, not to mention absolutely brainless. The boys would destroy her. She'd be completely desecrated by the end of the week and Pietro didn't give to halves of a damn. He was perfectly satisfied with the boarding house only boarding men.

Women complecated everything.

Pietro sawshe girl finally notice him and glance away quickly as she continued to walk, although she slowed her speeding pace to let him catch up. Pietro couldn't help but frown a bit. Usually girls eyes lingered on his body, not flickered instantly away. He felt insulted. Pietro knew he was one of the hottest guys around, he could get any cheerleader he wanted without question. Although some of the other girls around were just as satisfying. This girl being one of them.

She was a little too thin but she had curves, Pietro guessed she was a C cup. He wanted badly to get her naked and pull her long wavy locks in his hands and make her look at him. Pietro smirked. That was why he didn't want a girl in the house. He wanted them out of his bed and gone the second he was finished with them. A girl simply wouldn't do. Besides, he'd always wanted to fuck an X-geek. If Xavier and his flunkies came he would simply hand the girl over and tell Mystique it had been out of his hands. She was a fool for only sending one person with the girl anyways.

The girl cleared her throat and Pietro snapped back to reality. "Ah, um, so, do you have, um, a power too?"

Pietro looked down at the girl and raised his eyebrows. He hadn't expected timid girl to utter a single word on her 'walk'. He grinned.

"Of course I do. They call me Quicksilver baby." He used his speed and circled around her a couple of times before stopping dead in front of her. He looked into her green eyes and saw shock and then more awe. He smirked. His power was nothing new to the other mutants, it was always nice to have a fresh one admire him. Her pink, soft-looking lips quivered and slowly she offered a teeny tiny smile. It was cute.

Pietro frowned and spun away from her. He hated cute girls. They were only fun when they were virgins. Although it was dead obvious that was exactly what this one was.

"Stalking little girls again Pietro?" Pietro turned his gaze over to the X-geeks. Cyclops, Spike, Jean, and Kurt stood across the street. Pietro grinned

"Oh yes, what I'd love to do to a sixteen year old." Pietrotook a step in front of the girl not sparing a glance in her direction. He quickly assessed the damage. Cyclops and Spike were definitely worthless opponents because they could never hit him. Jean, on the other hand was the biggest problem, if she stopped his speed he was screwed. He looked at Nightcrawler. He would only be a problem for the girl. Pietro reached behind his back and held his hand out.

"Take my hand." He mumrmred quietly to the girl. Even though Pietro planned on handing the girl over to the X-geeks it would be when _he_wanted. He wasn't going to stand for blueboy simply transporting the girl away from him, making Pietro look incapable. He continued to hold his hand open behind his back as the X-men crossed the street. He was just about to think the girl was seriously disabled when we felt a small, smooth hand slip into his grasp lightly, almost as if it wasn't there. However as the X-men grew closer he felt her hand tighten in his grasp.

So the retard believed Mystique after all. What an idiot.

You're Abbygale Break aren't you? We're here to rescue you. Whatever you do, the Brotherhood is not your friend." The asshole Cyclops arrogantly spoke directly to the girl, completely ignoring Pietro. There was a "poof" sound and Nitecrawler appeared beside Abby as Pietro had expected.

"Hello Fraulein." Kurt smiled, obviously trying to be friendly. Abby emitted a squeak and clung to Pietro's hand harder. Pietro grinned and sped away from Nitecrawler, Abby in hand.

"Not so fast fur-ball. What makes you think I'll comply with you?" Pietro felt like laughing. It wasn't too often that the Brotherhood hand an advantage over the X-men. It was rare to have something they needed. He would enjoying dangling the girl in their faces.

"Give it up Pietro! We out number you, just back off and run back to daddy." Spike stood with his arms crossed, looking confident and cool.

Pietro glared at Spike, his former rival. His smirk disappeared instantly. Then again, why give the X-men anything? No, he decided he wasn't going to give the girl off. The Brotherhood would claim her, and Pietro would spend the next eternity rubbing it in the X-men's faces.

* * *

**A**bby held the guy's hand scared and confused. Were these the people the lady had said were hunting her? They seemed to know who she was and they wanted her to get away from the boy who was with her. She didn't know what to do, what was she supposed to do? Abby felt the grip of the guy's hand on hers loosen and then let go. She couldn't help but let out a noise of fear. Was this guy actually going to "give it up" and just hand her over?. Abby huddled in the shadow of the silver haired boy in wait.

"Stay right here." The guy said calmly to her. He sounded really pissed. _'I guess what that guy said really upset him.'_ Abby thought curiously to herself. Suddenly "Quicksilver" disappeared.

* * *

Pietro let go of the girl's hand while he glared at Evan. He made it obvious, looking like he would move to attack him. But when Pietro ran, he ran for Jean. He would need to stop the one most dangerous to him, and then keep the others back. He ran and struck Jean in the back. He spun in quick circles around her, hitting her firmly in different places so that she couldn't concentrate on stopping him. He stopped abruptly as Jean swayed from dizziness, he stood blocking the view of Jean and stuck his tongue out at Spike.

"Can't catch me." Evan growled in response, producing long brown spikes from his skin. He shot one dead straight at Pietro. Pietro moved out of the way in an instant. Now that Pietro wasn't blocking the way the spikes hurtled towards Jean.

"Jean!" Cyclops yelled and blasted the spikes to dust instantly before they hit Jean in the chest. Pietro was already moving again though, he swept in and snatched Cyclops's visor from his face. Pietro knew it was a dirty move but he really didn't care. Hey, he was a bad guy. Cyclops yelled angrily and immediately covered his eyes.

Quicksilver stopped and laughed. Jean was on the ground clutching her head while Scott stood helplessly covering his eyes. Spike stood in the shock of almost having killed his team mate and the fur ball was....

"Looking for somevone?" Pietro looked behind him just in time to see Nitecrawler grab the girl and transport her over to Spike. His mortal enemy. Events immediately went downhill after that. Spike regained himself and shot a bunch a spikes in his direction. Pietro took off but suddenly found his legs running on thin air as he was hoisted off the ground. He had been hoping to knock Jean out but clearly he hadn't hit hard enough. Her powers ripped Scott's visor out of his hands and sent it over to Cyclops.

* * *

**O**nce the smoke cleared from Abby's transportation she saw Quicksilver running quickly, on air. She looked on in complete shock. So many strange people, all had the ability to do complete different things. It felt like she was in a dream. None of this seemed real. It was like one big fantasy. It was like Abby was seeing the whole thing in a virtual reality game. It seemed real, but there was no way it was.

**"RUN YOU IDIOT!"**

Abby was jerked out of her reverie to hear Quicksilver yelling at her, face red, eyes blazing. She immediately remembered the situation she had gotten herself into.

"Shut up Pietro!" The dark skinned boy with the weird blond hair shot a spiky-looking thing out of his arm and into Quicksilver's arm. Quicksilver growled and cursed wildly as the blond haired guy shot another spike, this time into Quicksilver's leg. Abby felt very scared then. She backed up quickly away from the guy with what looked to be blue fur.

"No! Don't run! We aren't going to hurt you, we just want to talk that's all." The strange looking guy with the red and yellow visor began to walk over to her as did the blond guy.

"Yeah, come back with to us to Xavier's, he's a nice guy." The blond smiled, his attitude changed completely. _'They will try to trick you.' _The woman's words rang in Abby's head. She backed away further. What could she do? Should she run? Would she get away? What about Quicksilver? She glanced over at him and saw that the girl with the red hair still had him suspended in the air. His eyes were closed and his face was contorted into one of absolute pain. His arm and leg had begun to bleed.

These people were dangerous. Still they walked over to her, three of them. Abby went to take another step back and tripped, falling to the ground. Her breathing quickened as they approached closer. They had hurt Quicksilver. They were definitely going to hurt her too but she couldn't run away. Quicksilver had helped her, she couldn't just leave him. But what she could she do?

The scary people approached even closer now, the boy with the visor reached out his hand and Abby felt her fear pitch to a new level. She listened to the approaching footsteps that sounded so much like her parents. She saw the hand reach out and pictured the hands slapping and punching her so many times. There was no more thinking. It was plain survival. Abby's breathing became rapid gasps and she shrank away.

"Just come with us Abbygale."

_'Abby, Abby, weak as a stray tabby.'_

The children called to Abby and suddenly something shifted. Abby felt a hinge loosen. A door open.

**_"DON'T TOUCH ME!"_** Something was happening. It felt familiar. Her skin burned and her organs shifted. She stood on two feet now, her words changing into a weird sounding growl/roar. The light hair on her arms turn brown and thick. Her hands grew into fuzzy paws holding black claws.

--------------

**P**ietro watched in astonishment through his pain as the tiny girl huddled on the ground slowly stood, now a big grizzly bear hovering over the pathetic X-geeks. She gave one gigantic roar and swatted Scott to the side as if he were made out of paper. Nitecrawler stupidly transported onto her back but she easily threw him off as well.

She landed on all fours and turned toward Jean and began to charge. Nitecrawler yelled out a warning to Jean and she turned her gaze to little too late. She looked just in time to be completely bowled over. Pietro felt Marvel girl's grip on him loosen and he was abruptly dumped to the ground. The girl/grizzly bear turned around, her direction now aimed at Spike.

Spike yelled out in fright as she began to charge towards him. In alarm to stop her he shot spikes at her, successfully nailing her in the side. The bear howled and pain, tearing off into the street and out of sight.

"Spike no!" Cyclops yelled from the ground. He now sported long claw marks running down his side. Pietro heard running footsteps behind him and knew the Brotherhood had finally arrived.

"X-men retreat!" Cyclops yelled as he hoisted Jean up. Spike took hold of Nitecrawler and together the four X-men took off in their car.

Mystique walked in front of Pietro.

"WELL? where's the girl?" She didn't bother to take notice of Pietro's obvious wounded state.

"She ran off in bear form." Pietro answered, smouldering his pain and hoisting himself to his feet.

"Well then find her!" Mystique yelled in rage.

* * *

**A**bby lay against a wall in an alleyway down the street. She had changed back to herself part way running and had crawled into the shadowed place. It seemed like a good place to die. Well, she wasn't sure if she was going to die but it sure felt like it. She hadn't taken the spikes out of her yet. They lay embedded into her waist. She hazily tried to contemplate what she had done.

She had changed into something she had never dreamed about. A bear. It was so strange. She kept running the events over and over into her head but she couldn't figure it out. How had it happened? Why had she done that? She could have just run away but she didn't. She had fought. Abby looked at the stars through her haze of pain.

Transforming had been absolutely painful. Her skin still burned. Everything hurt. Her bones, her muscles, everything. She vomited for the third time. How could she ever get used to this? How was she ever going to survive? The world of mutants seemed cruel, harsh, and dangerous. She wanted no part of it. She just wanted to be somewhere safe. She just wanted to be okay.

The alleyway became blurry around her and she felt a world of darkness begin to engulf her.

**"Hey guys I found her!"**

Her eyes drifted shut but not before she glimpsed a blue hand reach out for her.

**Chapter 3 end.**

_Ahhhhh. Two thirty in the morning. I wrote this chapter today, forgive me if its crap. Enjoy._


	4. Surprise!

_Warning - Blood, Sweat, and tears_

**Paw Prints**

**Chapter 4 - Surprise**

**A**bby awakened to find herself in a bed. Not an unusual thing really. Just a bed. Two comfy pillows beneath her head. A mattress so soft a body might just melt into it. Last were the blankets, so thick and heavy. So warm. Yup. A bed. It was a wonderful bed, the only problem with this bed, Abby realised, was that this bed was not hers. She sat up quite slowly, wanting nothing more than to not care, and just go back to sleep to her heavenly bed. But the nagging feeling of being somewhere she did not know forced her to rub her eyes of the morning crustiness and look at her surroundings. She was in a room. That much was for sure. If she had had her wits about her Abby might have guessed a boy had once occupied the room. The walls were a deep, uncomfortable blue. Her bed sheets were an ugly olive green and her stomach plummeted when she saw the vast amount on stains on them. From various foods and liquids to other unknown substances. Abby wanted to puke. Yup this was a boys room alright. The rest of the room was next to empty. The floors were hardwood and stained too. There were two average size windows, both with what looked to be paintball splatters on the panes. The rest of the room was almost bare. There was a very large, almost walk-in sized closet that was completely empty and a large wooded dresser with its drawers open. Other than that there were clothes everywhere, strewn all over the floors.

Abby held back the urge to begin hyper ventilating. _'It's okay Abby. It's just a boys room. No big deal. It's okay that you're not wearing the clothes you came with.'_ Abby had looked down at herself and realised she wore a big black shirt that was three times her size and nothing else but her underwear and bra._ 'It's completely okay that someone stripped me and saw me practically naked. Yup. It's all good.' _She thought falsely to herself. Abby might have panicked at that point, and was sure that that was a perfectly normal thing to do for anyone waking up to such a situation but Abby realised she was sick of having panic attacks. She was sick of her heart beating a mile a minute. On this new day Abby decided to go with the flow. Yup. She was _not_ going to freak out. Nope, not at all. Abby turned herself around and slid off the edge of the bed to her feet. She was sock less too. Something Abby felt happy about. She liked walking around barefoot. It made her feel like she had a stronger connection to the ground or floor she stood upon. Abby ignored the fact that in bare feet it had always been easier to sense the vibration of her parents footsteps stomping in her direction. The floor was cold under her feet as she stood. She suppressed the urge to the little dancey dancey thing she would so when it was cold. Usually it helped her warm up a bit, and was always fun. Hey, when you don't have friends or games to keep you occupied you have to find some sort of entertainment to keep you happy.

_'Ah to hell with it'_ Abby almost laughed and began to do her dancy dance. However her actions were almost immediately halted when her arms had swung high above her head in a stretch. A ripping pain brought Abby to her knees. She gasped as her vision swung a tears melted from her eyes. What the hell was that? Abby quickly scanned around the room one more time to make sure she was alone before she lifted her tent-like shirt past her thighs and then her hips. She lifted it high enough to see a bandaged waist with a dried red spot on it. Abby sighed at the sight and dropped her shirt. It fell and hung just above her knees again. She remembered the previous night and shrugged her shoulders. She wanted to stick to her self-made promise. She wasn't going to freak out, not even over the fact that she had turned into a bear, attacked a bunch of weirdoes and then had taken off. She would worry about previous events later.

Now consciously aware of her wounds Abby carefully made her way across the room, stepping skilfully over the mounds and mounds of clothes strewn all around the floor. As she made her way across the valley of dirty laundry her nose picked up quite a few scents as well. None of them sweet. _' Who ever occupies this room obviously hasn't heard of a washing machine.'_ she thought grudgingly, not even considering the thought that a teenager is mostly too lazy to do his or her own laundry. She had no idea that nearly every room owned by someone her age in the world looked like this. She arrived at the closed door and extended her hand to the golden-looking door knob. She really wasn't wearing much, if the wind blew in the wrong direction anyone would see everything. _'But the wind doesn't blow inside. I will wear this.'_ she decided firmly._ 'Besides, my bag is no where in sight and I'm not going to search through these clothes for pants worn by a stranger.'_ She opened the door and was faced with a hallway. She felt a little shy then. She was alone after all. Who knew who lived in this strange place? Abby bet it had been those boys she had previously seen the night before.

Abby wanted to scream, but it wasn't out of fear. She wanted to scream in pure joy. She wasn't afraid. Her bruises would heal, the yelling would stop. She was safe. Her parents were…Not here. Abby tried to grin but it felt weird, so she opted for a big, smile instead. She looked both ways down the hall as if she were about to cross the street. The walls in the hallway were a similar colour, a gray blue that was hideous in Abby's eyes. It was lined in a worn white trim along the same hardwood floors the previous room had owned. All along the hallway were doors, as many doors as her old house might have had in a regular hallway. One direction ended with a little staircase leading up to what Abby assumed was the master bedroom. In the other direction, much closer to her she saw another staircase leading down to what she assumed was the ground floor. She really, really had to go to the bathroom and so she walked along the hall. She passed by two different closed doors before she found an open one leading to the bathroom. One was painted a simple black. It had a picture of a naked girl on the front. Abby quickly passed that one by. The next door she had passed was chipped a little and had a taped paper sign on it reading "Todd's Room." Abby could see that someone had spit on the sign. Many times. Finally she found an open door. Inside was a bathroom definitely belonging to boys.

The toilet seat was up of course. Many male deodorant sprays were littered around the shelves, the sink hadn't been cleaned in what looked to be centuries and she could see a few stray hairs on the counter top. Razors and shaving cream flanked the sink as if to ward her from using it. The shower was the thing that mostly told her that no woman lived in the house. No body washes or loofahs, shaving gels or razors. Just two different bars of soap. Two different conditioners and three shampoos. All masculine. There was nothing in that bathroom indicating she would be welcome inside it. Still, duty called and so gingerly she put down the toilet seat (she half expected it to be covered in cobwebs) and did her thing - quickly.

Abby walked out of the bathroom, feeling satisfied despite the unsatisfactory conditions. She paused for a few moments debating her next goal. The house seemed silent and she had yet to run into anyone at all. She still felt quite weird. After all she was in a house that she'd never been in before, almost no clothing, the clothing she did have wasn't hers, and she had no idea who lived in the house or even where they were. She decided that she was in quite the predicament. _'Well I guess I can't find my answers just standing here.'_ She berated herself. It was time to be brave now. Abby could no longer afford to lock herself in her closet and cry. She had made her decisions. Abby had promised herself a new life where she would no longer be afraid. She had promised herself acceptance.

Abby took a breath and walked back along the hallway to the descending staircase. She stopped at the top and peered around down. She listened and heard what she was sure was either music or a television. _'Well I guess someone is home then.'_ Feeling a little relieved that she wouldn't be left to her own devices she lightly stepped down the stairs. When she reached the bottom of the wooden staircase her feet met a pukegreen carpet. It felt worn and old under her feet. Almost mouldy. Abby shuddered and kept walking. She didn't like what she saw; holes in the walls, chipped paint, splatters and stains. The place, she quickly figured out, was a complete dump. She wanted to release a groan. What the hell had she gotten herself into? She was then greeted by the site of an open kitchen area. If you could call it that. The place was even messier than the bathroom. The sink was absolutely full of dirty dishes. It was disgusting. The cupboards were empty and left open, some coming off their hinges. When Abby opened the fridge she instantly wished that she hadn't. It was close to empty but the food that was there was incredibly mouldy, and imiting a putrid smell. Abby felt bile rise and almost emptied the remains of her McDonald's. She closed the refrigerator door and walked out of the room, not bothering to look at it again. It was a sight she would forever be trying to forget.

Abby walked into the next room to discover the noise she had been hearing was coming from an old T.V. She looked at the screen and could barely make out the picture it was so fuzzy. So looked and saw old fashioned antenna on the top and did something she hadn't ever expected to do then. She laughed. It bubbled up from inside her and escaped her mouth happily. It was just so unreal. This whole place was just so fantasy. Did people really live like this? A head shot up from the couch a few feet in front of her. She was greeted by the sight of one of the guys she had seen the previous night. His skin was very pale and yet looked like it had a green undertone. His eyes were green and even his shaggy hair was green-toned. Somehow Abby had the feeling it wasn't dyed. She stopped laughing. He looked at her, glaring hard. Abby shifted.

"You think something's funny?" It was a simple question sure enough. But the tone in his voice was incredibly hostile. It sounded almost as if he wanted to start a fight. He stood up then, and Abby saw how short he was. She, herself, was incredibly short. This guy was only a little bit taller than her, almost as thin too. Abby instantly had the feeling this punk was teased a lot. She made decision then. She could freak out, run away maybe. After all this kid looked tough, despite his scrawniness. Perhaps he would hit her. Abby faltered in her stance at the thought. She saw his eyes narrow further, picking up on her weakness. Abby inwardly protested. She wasn't supposed to be this weak! She needed to speak and convince this guy otherwise.

She offered what she felt was her best smile. "Not much, just the T.V. What's your name?"

He didn't say anything for a few moments. It was quite like time had stopped. Neither of them moved or said anything. The boy continued standing in his jeans and shirt, glaring at her while Abby continued to stand in her shirt, giving a smile. Finally it seemed time continued again as his expression changed completely. His eyes turned pleasant and his face neutral. He didn't return her smile. But his tone when he spoke next was neutral as well. He seemed to no longer count her as a threat.

"Todd. Yours?"

Abby smiled again. Todd. It was a cute name. Perhaps Todd would be her very first friend. She longed to have a friend. She had never had any. Unless you counted her teachers and tutors. They had belonged outside the family and so didn't know about her treatment. They had always been most kind to her but Abby longed to make a friend her own age. Longed to have companionship. Share laughs, and maybe just do stupid things. She held out her hand.

"My name's Abbygale, but you can call me Abby. It's nice to meet you."

Todd offered a gigantic grin, revealing yellow tinted teeth and then did the most horrific thing Abby would ever experience. He spit into her hand.

* * *

**T**odd lazed about on the couch not really paying to the T.V. It wasn't like there was anything interesting on the three channels they had anyways. He was completely bored out of his mind. Mostly kids enjoyed staying home from school when they got the chance but not the Brotherhood boys. Their house was shit, and so there was never anything to do. Todd wished he could have just gone to school. Picked a few wallets, made himself some cash. Bayville was home to a lot of rich kids. Rich kids meant full wallets. They were all mostly too young to own cards so cash was flowing freely, usually into Toad's hands. Suddenly Todd was shocked out of his reverie by a rich, high, happy laugh. He shot up, startled at the unfamiliar noise and saw where the sound had come from.

Oh. The girl. Todd inwardly shrugged his shoulders. He had been forced to stay home to make sure if she woke up, if ever, he could be there to make sure she didn't do anything stupid, waking in an unfamiliar place and all. He sat up and looked at her. He glared. What the fuck was she laughing at? Did she find his appearance funny? She, herself looked absolutely stupid. She was smiling this stupid smile that looked like it belonged on an asylum patient. Her shirt hung on her tiny frame like a parachute, ending just above the knees. Below he saw her calves were covered in dark bruises, her arms too, bore small bruises like finger prints. _'Abuse.'_ he viewed quietly. He, himself had gone through the same thing once. Todd asked his question and continued to glare in wait for her answer. The second she said it was him he was going to show her not to mess with the Toad. He saw her take a step back, making it clear he was intimidating her. So the abuse was fresh. She knew a threatening look when she saw one and she knew what would come after. Todd almost felt sympathy for her. Almost. He himself would have done the same thing; well he still did, just not to a girl who wasn't scary. There was no way this chick would last in the Brotherhood if she was afraid of even him.

The girl replied meekly and asked for his name. Todd couldn't help but feel shocked a bit. So she had been laughing at the T.V. not him. But then that was probably a lie anyways. There was nothing funny about the television. Todd wanted to roll his eyes. This girl was probably fake, her smile certainly said so. It had widened and become forced. He was definitely not liking this. They were the Brotherhood. The boarding house for misfit boys. Not the Sisterhood, home to stupid girls. Todd gave his name and watched for what dumb girl would do next. He saw her face relax and her fear dwindle a bit. Her smile lessened and became real. Friendly, genuine. She introduced herself as Abby and held out her hand.

Todd wanted to laugh right then. Man, this chick just didn't know anything. She was completely vulnerable and just waiting to be accepted. How stupid. Did she really think that just because they were both mutants, that he would like her? No. The Brotherhood wasn't like that. Perhaps this girl really did belong with the X-freaks. Pietro had definitely made a mistake. _'He should have just handed her off.'_ he thought grudgingly to himself. Either way, for the moment she was here. Todd decided he would show her just what he thought of her presence. He hacked up deep to the acid inside his stomach and spit his burning green slime right into her hand.

Welcome the Brotherhood.

* * *

**A**bby couldn't help it. She let out an ear piercing scream.

She dashed from the room. What the hell? What was this? _'What is this?! WHAT IS THIS?!'_ Her voice went shrill as she crashed into the kitchen. Her hand was beginning to burn as deep dark green slime oozed off of her hands. She quickly sank to her knees and began to wipe her hand on the floor while hysterically crying. This was not what she'd expected. She had been so sure that Todd would be nice! Especially with such a sweet name. Why would he do this to her? What had she done to deserve such a thing? She heard laughter from the room she'd just been in and felt anger well up inside of her. He thought this was funny?! Seriously?! And so Abby's promise to herself faded into nothing. So much for not freaking out.

* * *

**L**ance and the Brotherhood boys walked into their house after an easy day of school to a hysterically shrieking girl crumpled like a piece of paper on the floor, frantically rubbing her hand on the carpet. Lance wondered oddly if the new member was on drugs. Perhaps that was why she was unnaturally thin. He walked in and took further steps towards her to discover she was not tripping out but was trying to wipe green slime off of her hand. Suddenly Lance understood the situation and began to laugh. The rest of the boys filed into the room and began to laugh too, catching up on the scene.

Then Lance noticed something that made his laughs slowly die. Her hand was burning. Sizzling, he could hear it. Without even thinking he ran right over in three easy strides and immediately yanked her too her feat, careful to make sure none of Todd's deadly acid landed on him. He dragged her over to the sink as the Brotherhood stopped laughing. They also realised what was happening, well except for Todd, he still stood at the arch to the living room laughing his head off. The kid had a sick sense of humour. Lance shoved the mouldy dishes aside and turned on the tap, making the temperature as cold as he cold. No that it would ever be hot anyways, the hot water had been cut off quite some time ago. He would enjoy seeing her reaction when she tried to have a shower. If she stayed that long anyways.

Lance took her hand and shoved it under the freezing water and watched as the feebly struggling lunatic stopped spazzing out and slowly quieted down as Todd's slime came right off. He held on a little longer to check the damage, nothing serious. It would heal in no time. It seemed the boys had arrived right on time. Lance sent a glare over to Todd. Todd quickly stopped laughing. The girl quickly struggled out of Lance's grasp and cornered herself between the counter and the stove. She stared at her hand in disbelief and then noticed the amount of strangers around her. She looked as if she might piss herself she was so scared. Lance made to approach her but she backed away further from him, clutching her wounded hand to her chest protectively.

She looked rather pathetic really. She was incredibly small and her arms and legs were covered in bruises. So she was abused. Big deal, they had all been. Except for blob and Pietro anyways. But both of them had their own set of fucked up problems anyways. Her eyes would have been a sparkling green if they weren't hidden behind her long brown wavy hair. The kid looked like an absolute mess. He suddenly felt sympathetic to her. The Brotherhood was indeed, a rough crowd. He had a hard enough time trying to be with Kitty with out his comrades torturing him about it for days on end after. Lance frowned. Still, however bad he felt for her he couldn't show it. He knew his partner's feelings and not wanting his pride to be torn to bits, needed to treat this girl exactly the same as the other boys were going to. Horribly.

"I hope you're okay, because if you're not you should leave now." Lance told her arrogantly, in an almost taunting way. He was glad to have a new team-mate, and up his chances on beating the X-men, but it would be better if she just left. There was really no way she would survive, especially once she found out what Mystique had told her was a crock of shit.

Pietro snickered, coming up stand beside Lance, using his height to his fullest to corner her even more "Yeah, and don't come back." He laughed out loud now, slapped Todd on the back, and made his way upstairs.

* * *

Abby stared in horror as the two tallest guys stood blocking her into the corner of the kitchen. She felt like she would melt into a pile of goo, and not in a good way either. Her hand still faintly burned but she didn't spare a glance at it, too afraid that if the second she did she would be attacked again. She knew her hand held damage, how serious she had no idea. She stared at the two boys but saw Todd out of the corner of her eye and wanted to do something. She wasn't quite sure what it was that she actually wanted to do, or how to describe the boiling, hot feeling that ran through her blood. All she knew was that whatever action she would commit on him wouldn't be nice. How could anyone be so absolutely horrible?

"I hope your okay, because if you're not you should leave now." The tall brunette spoke arrogantly. It was like he was teasing her… But worse. Like a bully. When he had helped her she had hoped it was because he was friendly and clearly thought Todd was psycho as much as she did. Clearly not. The brunette was tall and quite thin, though nothing compared to Todd. His skin was a little darker than the average light skinned person and his eyes were a deep brown, almost black looking. His hair was styled a bit strangely but kind of looked cute. If only this guy wasn't crazy too.

"Yeah, and don't come back." Quicksilver added. Abby felt extremely appalled. What the heck? This guy had saved her last night! Why would he go and say such a thing? He had seemed rough around the edges, sure, but not cruel. Perhaps he was joking? However the way that the silver haired boy sneered at her as he walked past chilled Abby to the bone. He was no friend to her either. The boys seemed to be finished with her as they all walked into the living room. Abby still stood huddled in the kitchen. She simply did not understand what had happened.

She began to walk back to the room she had woken up in. Were these people not supposed to be "good?" If so, was the cruelty she had just experienced aloud? How could they be fighting for goodness when they, themselves, weren't good at all? Everything felt like a haze as she lightly stepped up the stairs. Why did she have a crumbly feeling in her heart? Why did she feel so…disappointed? Perhaps it was because she had expected other mutants to be more like angels, instead of demons. Pictures of the events from the previous night played calmly in the back of her mind. They definitely seemed like monsters. _'Does that make me a monster too then?'_ Abby wondered to herself. Perhaps her parents had been right. Maybe she wasn't meant to exist. Wasn't meant to breathe the same air as regular humans._ 'I killed them. I am the biggest monster of all.'_ Abby felt an invisible blanket of darkness engulf her as she walked along the hallways. She was the worst of them all.

Abby walked into the room she had stayed in and saw the silver haired boy already in it, his back to her, staring out the paint splattered window. Abby immediately went to turn around and leave but the boy turned and saw her before she could move. He stared at her hard and didn't say anything to her. Abby noticed his olive-coloured skin and how it looked nice against the shade of his hair. He was really tall, and broad shouldered too. Abby wasn't quite too sure what she felt right then. She was pretty sure she didn't like this guy. He had said something cruel in the kitchen and had laughed at her before that. Yet the previous night he had protected her. She saw him suddenly grin.

"See something you like?" Abby's face felt like it was burning, definitely on fire. She shook her head feebly, ducking her head to hide her face and her blush. The boy laughed something rich and haughty. _'Haughty.'_ Abby thought to herself._ 'That's exactly how he seems.'_ She realised quietly to herself. The guy stopped laughing and turned away from her again. Abby stared at his back and wondered if she should leave now. She was just about the step away until he stopped her for the second time.

"You know, last night, you could have left me. I wanted to let you know your help was noticed. However if you think you can win any acceptance or respect from it think again. It will take a lot more than that." The guy turned to face her again. He was frowning once more and was glaring at her. Abby wanted to shrivel up like a raisin until she got the full meaning of what he was saying. _'It will take a lot more than that.'_ So this was a game, Abby realised. They were boys, part of an organization of good doers, but she needed to prove her dedication. Or something like that. _'It's like sororities and hazing.'_ Abby thought absently.

"By the way, this is your room. Do what you want with it, I'm sure you wont be here long enough to get comfortable in it." The guy finished smoothly, as if a business man speaking to one of his clients. After that he walked out without sparing her another glance and sharply closed the door. Abby stood in place again. This time not in shock, but in confusion. What was she to do now? She looked around the room, the belongings of others still littered on the floor._ 'Where is my bag?'_ She wondered curiously to herself. She explored the room a little bit, getting her bearings straight and looking to see if her bag had been placed somewhere she hadn't seen earlier, it was no where to be found Abby quickly discovered. Just a lot of dirty clothes and garbage. Some old pizza too. Abby had felt like throwing up when she had seen it.

Suddenly there was crashing about downstairs. Abby quietly went to her door, opened it just a tiny bit and leaned her ear close to the opening, trying to listen. She could hear muffled voices, men, and with a little gasp Abby realised, a woman. Could it be Mystique? Deciding to forget about her appearance Abby quickly made her way down the stairs and into the entry way. Sure enough there was the blue lady, Mystique, glaring at the boys who all stood at attention in a single, straight line. Abby continued to walk down the stairs, making sure not to make a face about the feeling of the carpet on her feet, and went to stand beside the brown haired guy in the line. She wasn't exactly sure what it was that she was supposed to be doing but she figured when in Rome do what the Romans do.

"Ahh Abby, I trust your stay has been comfortable so far?" Mystique had taken notice of Abby and while she had been previously glaring at the boys, she offered Abby a cunning smile while her voice poured out buttery smooth, like it had the night before. A part of Abby wanted so desperately to tell Mystique about the boys and their treatment to her but something inside of Abby told her that would be a bad idea. Or maybe it was simply the fact that Mystique didn't look like the kind of person who would actually care. Abby openly looked down at Todd, who stood at the other end of the line. He looked at her, fear clearly written in his eyes. Maybe Mystique was the type of person who _would_ care after all. She then looked at Quicksilver and saw he was smirking in Todd's direction. As if he clearly expected her to squeal.

"Yes ma'am, I don't mind it here." The calm, easy words rolled off of Abby's tongue and Mystique accepted her unbelieving words in an instant. Abby was used to lying. She had done it all of her life. Every time she had seen a teacher or tutor, every time she was sent to the hospital. Lie, lie, and lie. Covering up pain and mistreatment was second nature to Abby. It had to be. Abby felt her expression tighten and then become smooth. She allowed her eyes to become emotionless. She had spent too much time concealing herself and her emotions from others. She could confidently say that she had mastered the art of it. There had been times when her mother or fathers hand had come flying at her at the most unexpected times. While she was eating cereal, while she was bending to pick something up, while writing a letter, walking, breathing. Abby had learned to continue on doing whatever it had been that she had been doing as if nothing had happened. She had found things worked out better for her that way than to cry, make a sound, or wince.

She heard Todd let out a breath down the line and felt a quiet triumph. His fate had been in her hands, and she had chosen not to be a rat. She spared a quick glance at Quicksilver and saw to her delight, or disappointment, she wasn't sure, that he was frowning. Mystique smiled, almost evilly. "I'm sure my polite boys have already introduced themselves but In case they haven't- This is Lance, codename Avalanche." She motioned to the her brown haired guy who had helped her earlier that evening then motioned to the large guy wit the blonde Mohawk. "This is Fred, codename Blob." Abby had yet to make interaction with Fred but she was sure he would be just as mean to her as the others. Next Mystique waved towards Quicksilver. "This is Pietro, codename Quicksilver and last is Todd, codename Toad." her words ended in silence as no one bothered to speak. Now Abby knew all of their names.

Mystique cleared her thought after a moment and spoke to Abby once again. "Welcome to the Brotherhood of Mutants. This is the boarding house where you will be staying. I trust you were smart enough to attain one of our many rooms." Abby nodded quickly, still wearing the mask of a rock. This woman was definitely harsh. She clearly had no tolerance for stupidity. She smiled her smile again and nodded in approval.

"You will come with me tonight and we will get started on your training. Now." Her tone was commanding and demanding. Like a queen no one dared disagree with. She went to turn but seemed to suddenly remember something. "Oh, and you might want to change. Something allowing more movement perhaps." Mystique reached down to her feet and picked up Abby's bag and held it out to her. Abby knew her bag had not been there before, which meant that Mystique must have had it all along. Abby gratefully took her bag from Mystique and without sparing another glance at the boys stilled lined up beside her, took off up the stairs. She ran to her room and ripped open her bag. Everything was still there, nothing was missing, the money included. Abby looked closer and saw that even though nothing was missing, her bag had definitely been searched. She shrugged her shoulders. She had nothing to hide and as long as nothing was stolen she decided not to make a big deal about it. She had bigger problems to think about.

Abby shuffled through her bag trying to quickly find something suitable for the "exercise" she would be participating in. In the end she picked out a pair of black caprice and a tight but not too tight purple tank top. She rushed back down the stairs where Mystique still stood waiting for her. The boys had left somewhere and she found she couldn't continue to wonder where they were because she suddenly felt like there was a hand squeezing her stomach. She was really nervous. She would be with a stranger, alone. Abby wondered what they would be doing, and how much Mystique expected of her. She quietly followed Mystique out the door and into the back yard. Mystique stopped and the turned to her.

"Any questions?" Abby almost thought that question itself was stupid. Of course she had questions! Too many, and none of them she was willing to ask out loud. She merrily shook her head, opting for silence. Mystique shrugged her shoulders.

"Alright then we begin. Show me what you can do." Abby in turn shrugged _her_ shoulders, feeling more and more nervous by the second.

"There isn't much I _can_ do."

* * *

**T**he Brotherhood boys watched out one of the windows over looking the boarding house backyard. There Mystique and Abby trained. Progress was incredibly small and Pietro was disappointed not to see the same fierceness in the girl that he had seen the previous night. Clearly it had been a one time thing. He was wondering what Mystique and his father had possibly seen in her in the first place. She didn't show much power from what he'd seen so far. They watched as Abby grew a cat tail and cat ears, complete with whiskers and then watched a very slow, very painful process of her turning into a panther. It was incredibly slow and the boys whitenessed every limb and feature crack and morph slowly into something beastly. It was almost vomit worthy.

Changing back into a human after a few minutes Pietro saw the girl sway on her feet and sit down. Mystique walked over and began her lesson, clearly instructing Abby with precise class and retrain. _'Wonder how long that's going to last.'_ Pietro thought to himself. He knew Mystique couldn't be nice forever. Finally after an hour and what only lead to a slightly faster but still sickening transformation the women went inside again. Pietro zipped downstairs to meet them.

Abby walked in and without taking any notice of Pietro trudged up the stairs. He managed to catch a glimpse of her face on the way up and saw that her face was covered in sweat and her eyes were glazed. It looked as if she was close to passing out. After she was out of earshot Pietro looked at Mystique. "So what's the deal with her? She seams pretty weak." Pietro watched Mystique hoping to get information. He had to admit he was quite curious. Mystique turned her ugly gaze upon him.

"She is a new mutant; her powers have just started developing. She will be more reliant than you lazy miscreants. Magneto seems to think she will become powerful quickly. I agree. Now make use of yourself and attend our newest member." Pietro shrugged, not taking any of her petty bait and walked up the stairs as he heared Mystique leave to do her business somewhere else. As if he would play servant to anyone, especially the new recruit. No way. He walked up the stairs and into his room, closing the door quietly.

* * *

**A**bby somehow made it back to her room, her gaze swimming. This 'training' session had taken the wind right out of her. She knew she couldn't do much yet. She had seen the disappointment and anger on Mystique's face despite her calm words. Abby herself was frustrated. It was so much harder to transform when adrenaline wasn't pumping through her system. Each transformation into a panther she had made that night had been excruciatingly difficult and painful. Abby sank to her knees at the end of her bed frame. Being a panther and taken a tole on her. She felt as though she could still taste her parent's blood in her mouth. Abby curled into a ball and closed her eyes, desperately trying to get the flashes of her parents out of her head. She didn't want this. She didn't want any of this.

Why did she have to be a mutant?

* * *

**X**avier examined his students, hiding his disappointment. "I understand none of you expected Abby to become aggressive. Mystique must have convinced her of the wrong intentions from us. For now we will let things breath. I am most sure we will get another chance to recruit her again."

Chapter 4 end


	5. Cupcake

Authors Note- On my profie I have put a link leading to photbucket where you can see Abby and what she'll look like when she gets her costume. I couldn't decide if I should make her with a flippy skirt or a tight one.

Also many thanks to my reviewers, there's only five but that's alot. It really makes me happy to know that people like this story. Many, many, thanks.

_Warning - Blood, sweat, and tears._

**Chapter 5 - Cupcake**

**A**bby dreamed during the night. At first her dreams were blurred, as if she was seeing through thick glass, or water but slowly things cleared and she saw that her surroundings were only too familiar to her. She stod, or hovered, she wasn't sure, in her house. Her beautifully rich and elaborate house. Cream coloured, spotless walls. Shiny, expensive wood floors and sky high ceilings. Still there was one thing out of the ordinary on the floor, something that shouldn't have been there. Abby was horrified in her dream to see her parents. There they lay. So bloody and torn. Nothing happened in her dream. Abby just saw, for what felt like eternity, her parents' bodies. She wanted so badly to look away, to close her eyes, anything. But she couldn't. This was a dream, she was out of control. She had no choice but to simply look at her dead parents. She began to go crazy in her dream, wishing she could just rip her eyes out. She couldn't move. All she could do was just watch and scream.

-

**A**bby awoke with a start. She wasn't quite sure what had woken her, her scream or the ripping pain in her side. She was sweaty and hot she discovered as she awakened fully. Abby also discovered she was still on the floor, curled against the end of her bed against the frame. Abby uncurled herself and tried to breath through it all. Her parents. She was a murderer. She had killed two people. Abby let out a frustrated noise. _'No! I can't think about that!'_ She quickly reminded herself before she drove herself insane. Instead Abby concentrated on the pain she felt. Abby lifted her shirt and saw her bandages were soaked in blood at the spot where she had been hurt. _'What do I do? And who took care of me anyways?'_ She thought curiously. Abby slowly sat up and saw it was daytime outside the window. She lightly scratched her head and wondered what time it was.

She stood and felt a little woozy as she continued to stare out the window. It was sad. So Sad. The sun was out, it shone beautifully on everything. Every leaf, every blade out grass. It was wonderful. Random wild flowers grew amongst the long never-been-cut grass. It was like something out of a beautifully crafted oil painting really. Birds flew prettily through the air. Each singing a different tune as they passed by. It was all so mystical and Abby wished so longingly that she could be apart of it. Wished she could belong. But Abby belonged on the other side of the window. The side submerged in darkness. Inside broken, screaming walls. Hiding the monsters that lived inside. Abby was one of those monsters. She was the biggest monster of them all.

_'What was I thinking? Thinking I could belong, that I could have a friend. I don't deserve those luxuries. I should not even be aloud to breath.'_ Abby thought sadly to herself as she turned away from the window to face her new messy room. She felt horrible. Now that most of her excitement was over all Abby could think about was her crime. It seeped into her like hot soup. Stinging and burning every inch of her. She walked quietly from her room and out into the hall. Looking both ways she saw that it was empty and made her way to the bathroom. Abby stopped in front of the bathroom and saw the door was closed. Placing her ear to the door she suddenly heard the toilet flush. Abby quickly took a step back, awkwardly stepping to get out of the way in time so that she wouldn't get smacked by the opening door. Abby twisted and felt the pain of her wound flare up. She grabbed her side and felt a small dampness.

The door opened and Abby saw her silver haired savior- Pietro, walk out of the bathroom. He didn't seem to notice her at first, but when he almost walked into her he looked surprised. He almost continued to walk by until he saw Abby clutching at herself. He remembered she he gotten a spike embedded in just that spot and knew something must have happened. Pietro really didn't want to care, this shouldn't be his problem but Pietro also knew that if his father was in on this, if anything serious happened to her, it would fall on his shoulders. So Pietro reached out and promptly grabbed Abby's hand off her side and looked at her surprised green eyes.

"What's wrong now? Your wound open up?" He asked inspecting her hand. He saw the smear of blood on her hand and shook his head. "You should have been more careful with yourself you idiot." He spat angrily. He waited for a reaction, maybe even a slap to the face but Abby did nothing. She lowered her head so that her bangs were covering her eyes and shadowing her face. She simply just looked at the ground and didn't do anything. Pietro couldn't help but feel a little guilty then. Everyone always reacted when he was mean. They always yelled, or used their powers but Abby was doing nothing. She simply took his words and did nothing. He looked at her arm again and not just the hand but the rest of it. He saw bruises all over them and he realised he hadn't noticed them before. Pietro continued to ignore his inner most feelings. She was just a weakling who could only hinder his team. It was better if she just ran away to the X-Geeks. She had no place in the Brotherhood. Still, Pietro knew something would be needed to be done now.

"Here, I'll change them for you." Pietro knew why, but he still couldn't believe what he was doing. He lead Abby into the bathroom and cleared a space on the countertop and then motioned for her to sit. Abby, still looking at the floor, slowly eased herself, with difficulty, onto the counter. She sat straight with her long thin legs hanging off the side. Pietro made to lift up her shirt but Abby flinched and jerked backwards the second Pietro made contact. He growled angrily and was about to say something very cruel when he noticed her hands were shaking. Was she afraid? Pietro watched slowly as Abby rolled up her shirt herself and began to fumble unsuccessfully with her wet bandages. Pietro rolled his eyes, not caring if she was scared or not and shoved her hands aside.

"Let me do it." Abby moved her hands away an watched pitifully as Pietro began to undo her bandages. At first he was rough and uncaring. Though after carelessly brushing her wound and hearing Abby emit a whimper he was gentle. Taking time and concentration to do the job. He payed attention to what he was doing, not seeming to care that he was sullying his hands with her blood.

Abby's voice almost shocked Pietro out of his skin. He hadn't expected her to speak during the whole ordeal. "What about you? She asked. "Didn't you get hurt too?" Pietro grinned.

"I'm all healed up." He sated in a cocky tone. He didn't say anything more as he threw her bloody wrappings out. He was actually still secretly nursing his wounds, he just didn't want to make it known. He then began to wipe of her blood with toilet paper. He was even more gentle as he did this, now that it was no longer covered by thick white bandages. After he proceeded to add a disinfectant, promptly ignoring Abby's hiss as he applied it. Finally he took out a fresh white roll of bandages and began to firmly wrap them over her wound again. Once he was finished Abby rolled down her shirt and stayed where she was, unsure of what was supposed to happen next.

"Uh, thank you." She said feebly. Of course this guy seemed like a jerk yet he kept doing nice things for her. Abby just wasn't quite sure what to think of Pietro. Pietro turned and shrugged his shoulders, and walked out of the room.

"Whatever." He replied as he left. Abby frowned. There was the jerk again. Abby lifted her shirt up again and inspected the wrappings around her waist. He certainly had done a good job. _'Almost as good as a doctor.'_ Abby thought to herself. She nimbly jumped off the counter, now consciously aware of her body's movements and began her personal morning business. After doing her thing and getting dressed Abby walked down the stairs into the kitchen she so desperately didn't want to see.

* * *

**T**odd hopped casually down the stairs into the kitchen and walked into a rather hushed conversation between Lance and Pietro. Both looked up sharply when Todd hoped in, then went back to their muttered conversation when they realised that the person who entered the room was not the person they were talking about. Todd grinned, secretly excited about whatever gossip it was Lance and Pietro were discussing. He excitedly hopped over and took a seat in between the boys. Lance seemed to take no notice of him while Pietro cast one disgusted look his way before continuing the conversation. Based on previous experiences Todd kept his mouth shut at first, wanting to learn what he could before the boys got sick of his hovering and kicked him out.

After quietly sitting for a few minutes Todd realised they were talking about the new girl, Abby. Todd frowned. Despite himself he almost felt guilty about the previous day. He had spit burning acid into her hand, then she had been given the perfect opportunity for revenge…and hadn't taken it. She had quietly told Mystique there was no problem. Todd was more than happy for his good luck, but confused at the same time. No one had ever covered his ass before. No one had ever given two cents. He was just the annoying, the gross, toad. Abby, had covered for him. Maybe she wasn't fake after all? Even so, it was only more reason she should disappear. The Brotherhood wasn't for the soft hearted. Todd was about to insert his two cents when he noticed said girl walk into the kitchen.

* * *

Lance and Pietro had been sitting at the table for quite a while discussing their latest member. Both agreed they needed to get rid of her when they'd been interrupted by Todd.

"Last night was beyond pathetic. You could tell Mystic was about to explode near the end. Really Pietro, what did you see in her? Are you sure you weren't hallucinating her bear transformation?" Lance stared at Pietro sceptically, promptly ignoring Todd's presence. Pietro snorted in response.

"I know what I saw asshole. Still you're right, she's a god damn fly. You can barely even call that transformation a power. Still, Mystique seems pretty hellbent on having her stay." Lance nodded in reply to Pietro, ignoring the name calling. Pietro couldn't help but feel defensive. He almost wanted the girl to prove herself. Just so everyone would stop thinking he'd taken pity on a weakling. He opened his mouth to speak but was interrupted by almost silent footsteps coming down the stairs. Lance noticed as well and a cold silence fell onto the room as Abby entered. Her appearance had changed from the previous day. All of her bruised skin was covered. She adorned a black turtle neck, which only emphasized her sickly frame. Her jeans were baggy and covered every inch of her legs, feet included. Her hands were hidden in her sleeves, her damp hair left down, her bangs shading her eyes. Not that you'd be able to see them anyways, her head was bent down low, her eyes cast to the ground. Really her weakness was so obvious you just wanted to pick her off, being at the bottom of the food chain.

She stopped once she reached the cold tiles of the kitchen. She raised her face a little and Lance watched as her eyes darted quickly around the kitchen, assessing the obvious situation. She shifted a little, standing like an idiot. Pietro lost his fuse quickly, the one most intolerant to timidness. "Well?! What do you want pest?!"

The girl started. "Ah, um, I was…wondering what there is to eat." Her words were forced and Pietro noticed her hands start to shake. Really, how abused had she been? He shook it off. He refused to be affected by her behavior. The only thing she would be good for was fucking, even then she was so tiny Pietro wasn't sure if he wanted to see her naked, she might just be a sack of bones underneath that clothing.

"Nothing, although I'm surprised you would even ask such a stupid question. You look like the type who would sleep in a bed of roaches before eating." Pietro watched in open glee for her reaction. This was going to be so fun, torturing her until she finally left and joined the X-Geeks. He watched as her eyes widened then were quickly aimed back to her feet. She stood silent for a moment before turning around and walking slowly back up the stairs, but not before Pietro caught a quivering lip. Suddenly Pietro didn't feel so hot. His grin turned to a frown. There was that lack of reaction again. It was really starting to bother him now. Why didn't she fight back? Why couldn't she get angry. Pietro thought back to the night he'd first met her. She'd seemed just as timid until he'd gotten hurt and things seemed to go downhill. The X-men had cornered her, and like an animal she'd reacted out of blind fear. Fear. Couldn't she experience something else?

Pietro shook his head._ 'Who cares? She'll be gone before we know it.'_ Pietro focused and saw that both Lance and Todd were avoiding his gaze, as if to make his feel even more guilty. _'Hah! Guilty? I don't think so.'_ Pietro stormed up the stairs, opened the door to his room, walked in, and slammed the door shut.

* * *

**A**bby attempted to dry the waterfall of tears running down her face. What a bastard. Abby cursed herself as her stomach continued to torment her with pains and growls. She felt humiliated. So everyone thought she was anorexic. Of course that was to be expected, her parents didn't like to feed her and she was banned from the kitchen, thus making food hard to come by. She hated it here. Abby realised as upset and hurt as she was, she felt pissed. She was angry. Were all people like this? Was everyone this insensitive? It just didn't seem right. No food, no friendly faces, a shower that didn't have hot water. Abby shuddered, remembering the unkind surprise she been given that morning. Abby realised she even sucked at being a Mutant._ 'I can't even make one transformation.'_ Abby thought scornfully to herself. _'Except of course when it comes to killing your parents.'_ Her conscience bit in. Abby felt herself cry harder at the thought. _'It's true. You deserve all the horrible things happening to you. You're just a mound of self-pity.'_

It just wasn't fair. Abby shook her head and peeled herself off the floor. She really was a lump of self-pity. Really, she didn't deserve pity of any kind. Abby got up. There was no food in the house, it was clear. _'The boys have to eat though.'_ Abby thought to herself. She then contemplated going to a grocery store, but then she realised she didn't know where a grocery store was. Abby wanted to scream. It just seemed like nothing was ever going to go right. She stood, unsure exactly what she should do with herself. In the end she decided perhaps she should just go outside. Maybe practice on her transformations. She made one last attempt to wipe the tears from eyes, knowing full well that it wasn't going to matter. Anyone who saw her would know she was a big baby. Abby walked to her door, almost expertly avoiding the piles of dirty clothes littered around the room and opened th door. She mistakenly did not look both ways before walking down the hall.

Abby realised this mistake when she felt the ground shaking footsteps behind her. Abby couldn't help it, she stopped and turned to almost crash into a giant wall coming towards her. The wall stopped just before hitting her. Abby looked up, really looked up, and saw the wall was not a wall, but a person, staring down at her in mild annoyance.

"Fred." The word escaped Abby's lips before she had even realised she had said it. She had remembered the name of this boy from the previous night. Abby hadn't bothered to really look at the guy fully, or be properly awed by his appearance due to her anxiety of being in Mystique's presence. Now she had full time to gawk at Fred's enormity. He had to be the largest person she'd ever seen…and he was really beginning to look annoyed. Annoyed he was. Fred looked down upon Abby and grew angry at her shock.

"Hey don't just stand there lookin' at me! Get outta' my way!" Fred started out angry and ended up yelling. He really hated when people stared at him. It wasn't his fault he was the size he was. He felt his anger overwhelm him. When Abby simply cowered, still in his way Fred got even more pissed. He reached out his arm and hit her. He really didn't mean to hit her so hard. Honestly sometimes Fred didn't know his own strength, and the girl was really small looking. She flew down the stairs, not really rolling, not really falling. Just flying. She hit the bottom hard and lay motionless. Fred would have most certainly cared under other circumstances, but he couldn't care at that moment, because all he was thinking about was the look she had given him. The same look people gave him everyday.

"FRED WHAT THE FUCK?!" Fred was snapped out of his daydream by Pietro fiercely slapping his face. Fred would have giggled at the tingling sensation but he couldn't because Pietro was screaming his head off. Fred looked around him and realised what he had done and immediately felt ashamed and afraid. Mystique had been crystal clear when she had said no one was to touch her. Especially him. Fred's face went white. He turned quickly around, ignoring Pietro and made quick time getting back to his room. He would go back to sleep, and pretend the whole thing was a dream.

* * *

**P**ietro cursed Fred's existence as the guy stomped loudly back to his cave. He had come out of his room just in the to see Abby be catapulted down the stairs. Of course he wouldn't have normally cared, maybe encouraged a little hurt, but falling down stairs, let alone being thrown down them, could end up in some serious hurt, if not neck-snapping death. Pietro rushed down the stairs and knelt down in front of Abby's crumpled form. She wasn't moving.

"Abby." Pietro called her name for the first time. If she was dead heads would surely roll. Pietro ignored the thought that he could possibly care about a person's well being. It just simply wasn't possible. After no response Pietro yelled her name. He reached out to grab her shoulder only to have her shrink back. He watched as her leg shifted and her body raised itself into a sitting position. Pietro wasted no time looking her over. Despite being half hidden in bangs her face looked untouched. The rest of her body he wasn't sure of. Pietro reached out to grab for her again only to whiteness her shove up into the corner. Lance then appeared behind him.

"What happened.?" Calm as usual Lance looked around them, obviously assessing the disaster. He then crouched down along with Pietro, but didn't bother to try and touch her. Just simply sat in close proximity to her reclining form. Pietro quickly explained what he'd seen when he realised Abby wasn't about to speak while Lance nodded silently. He didn't appear to be angry, or even remotely disturbed. Pietro realised he wanted desperately to hurt him, or himself he wasn't sure. Why had he even been concerned in the first place? If the girl couldn't take a hit from Fred she was useless. All the mutants got bashed around by one another, why the hell should the girl be any different? Pietro shook his head and promptly stood up, displeased.

"You should have seen how easily she fell. A gust of wind could have hit her with the same force. What a wimp." Despite whatever he was feeling inside Pietro shoved it down and walked away, unable to stop the last look thrown behind him at Abby. She had raised her head and in a rare moment he could see her green eyes. He felt a little surprised to see that they had been crying, but they weren't now. Pietro ignored the sudden rock falling into his stomach. His comments could make her cry, but Fred shoving her down the stairs couldn't? Pietro wanted to be sick at that moment. He decided to blame it on seeing Fred instead of being guilty of something. He walked up the stairs and decided not to think about this incident again.

Lance meanwhile, still crouched in front of Abby's form. He didn't bother to try and touch her, from personal experience he knew it would be pointless. After Pietro's irritating exit Abby had stiffened completely. Lance was just about to ask the pointless question of whether or not she was okay but was stopped when she hastily rose to her feet. A little shaky but stable none the less.

"I, uh, am leaving for a while." Abby brushed herself off with shaky hands and Lance realised anything he would try to do or say now would be a lost cause. He stood up beside her and nodded silently. He walked into the kitchen and leaned on the archway, watching as she quickly ran up the stairs to get something and the rushed down. Lance noticed she seemed to be functioning decently and decided to go watch T.V. He knew he shouldn't be concerned for the recruit anyway. She was just going to be thrown to the X-Greeks in a while.

* * *

**A**bby calmly walked out of the house. She wasn't angry or upset about what had happened, just shocked. She quickly made a mental note never to get in Fred's way again. She wasn't particularly hurt either. She'd been extremely lucky not to have riped her wound as well. She suspected she'd only have a couple of bruises to show for it. Just another colour to add to the rainbow already covering her body. Abby snorted at herself. Such silly thinking. She stepped easily onto the driveway passing a seemingly abused jeep. She paid no mind to it and kept walking. She couldn't drive even if she wanted to. There was no way her parents would have ever given her a skill that could mean her escape, or furthering in life in any way.

The sound of the house door opening a ways behind her broke her dream.

"Yo Abby! Where are you going?!" Abby looked behind her but knew who it was before she turned around. Todd hopped quickly from the house towards her. His voice curious and almost friendly. Abby quickly shook her head and hurried her speed. She really didn't want any more trouble. It seemed like she was running into a horde of bad karma that day. Still Todd appeared not to acknowledge her speed increase and matched her pace evenly, as if it was some how clear to him that she wanted his company or something. He hopped weirdly beside her, obviously waiting for an answer. When she didn't give him one, and began ignoring his presence Todd began to babble again.

"Yo man, where ever you're going I have to come with you. Ya know, to make sure you don't get kidnapped or nothin'." He continued to follow her, now walking like a relatively normal human being. Abby noticed for the first time that Todd smelled. It wasn't really a bad smell or anything, just somewhat strange. He smelled like the pond Abby had had in the backyard. Pond and moss. Not so bad if the smells of nature didn't bother you. They didn't bother Abby. Her favorite smell was the smell of a the trees and dirt, the smell of the forest. Abby wondered why Todd was trying to be so friendly after the events of the previous day. Perhaps he was sorry, or perhaps he was just tricking her. Todd continued to babble on when Abby didn't give him an answer. It wasn't until they reached the end of the Brotherhood property that Abby realised she had become fed up.

"Look, uh, Toad. We don't like each other so, um, go…go…" Abby faltered a bit at the end. Afraid. She had never really spoken offensively to someone before. Temporarily forgetting Todd was the person who had burned her hand, she couldn't help but think it was incredibly mean to tell someone to just go away. Todd stopped abruptly behind her and Abby almost stopped too, until she quickly remembered she was trying to lose him. She continued walking, now down a broken road. Abby looked around her in surprise. This was nothing like she'd ever seen before. The road was in bad condition, potholes and gravel. The houses were even worse, if you could call them that. Shacks really. You could tell they were once beautiful, like the Brotherhood house, old and elegant. Hidden under rotting wood and broken windows. Footsteps brought Abby back to reality.

"Yo I get it. Still I have to go with you. Orders n' stuff." Todd sounded awkward now as he caught up with her. Abby supposed he hadn't expected her to say anything. She couldn't help the slight guilt building inside her system as they continued to walk on in silence. Everything was weird now. Really awkward. Abby couldn't help but regret her decision to leave the house. What a stupid idea. Abby felt her stomach growl for what felt like the millionth time that day. She realised the last time she ate was someitme before her parents… Abby verbally chocked on her own spit thinking about the outcome of her rage. She stood there coughing like an idiot while Todd stood beside her, unsure of what to do. Abby felt her cheeks flush red at her embarassment and decided now was a better time than any to voice the question she was dying to ask.

"Take me somewhere to eat. I have…money." Abby stopped herself from saying "um" or "uh". She was beginning to realise she was going to have to be tough if she didn't want to feel burning acid in the palm of her hand again. She looked down at it and saw it was still red and sore, but luckily not any worse. She felt her heart speed up a little as she waited for Todd to answer. Would he make fun of her like Pietro? Or would he simply spit more green stuff at her again? Or maybe he'd lead her to the wrong side of town, and leave her to fend for herself. Abby felt her head start to spin at all the horrible possibilities her fear was creating. Hadn't Mystique said that these people were good? The good guys? But then no one ever said good guys had to be nice. Todd interrupted Abby's thought then.

"Okay, I can take you somewhere. Just keep in mind you're buyin' for me too yo."

* * *

**P**ietro was bored. He lay on his bed, staring at the many pin-up girls he had pinned to his ceiling and sighed. What was taking them so long? Where the hell had they gone anyway? Had they been ambushed by the X-men? Pietro growled out loud in frustration. He knew he shouldn't be curious, he knew he would have normally forgotten that someone had left the Brother house by now, it had been nearly three hours after all. Still he couldn't stop his mind from asking questions. It was stupid to have sent Todd out after her. It was bad enough the girl was incredibly stupid and pathetically timid. Then there was Todd, who pretended to be tough, until things got rough and he would scream like a little girl. Pietro huffed and growled again. He decided a little exercise might help. He got to his feet and with a lightening speed, zipped out of the house and ran around it 30 times before collapsing back into his bed, no even the slightest bit out of breath.

Suddenly Pietros attention went out to the open window to the left of his comfy and well-kept double bed. He heard giggling. Pietro dashed to his window, nearly falling over himself in the process. Nearly. He shoved his head out his window and looked out into the yard. There, there they were. Todd and the girl had just come into view through the trees surrounding the Brotherhood property. They walked calmly beside each other. Todd was talking animatedly to the girl, and for once he saw something other than fear on her. Her face was raised to meet Todd's and although it didn't look as though she was meeting his gaze she was smiling. It wasn't a grin or anything, just a tiny little smile, with lips that slowly parted to emit a giggle. Pietro wasn't quite sure what the hell it was, but he was pissed. Maybe it was the fact that someone was making her happy. Or maybe it was because they had both made it back in one piece that pissed him off. Either way Pietro was livid and in the mood to spoil their fun.

* * *

**A**bby giggle as Todd described how Fred loved to stack his many scoops of flavoured ice cream in the order of the rainbow. From strawberry pint, to minty green, to chocolate chunk brown. She couldn't help but utter a chuckle at the thought of a giant stack of cream like a rainbow. She felt herself smile. Today had been okay after all. Todd, she decided, maybe wasn't so bad after all, even if he had spit burning acid on her hand the previous day. It had started off decently after she'd asked for food, after then he'd taken her around town, showing her all the restaurants, convience stores, grocery stores and fast food places. When Abby had told him she'd only tried McDonald's a day ago he had almost fainted.

_"What the hell's s'matter with you yo? Living under a rock all your life?" He'd been shocked and almost even offended looking. Abby had felt ashamed and it was then that she finally felt the bitter taste of not having lived her life yet. Abby felt sad to think she had yet to experience almost anything. She had looked into Todd's oddly expressioned face and laughed, not because she thought anything was funny, because for some reason she felt embarrassed._

_"A rock, um, or a dungeon maybe. You get the, picture. I, uh, haven't really gotten to do anything…at all." Abby had wanted to continue on, tell him him she wasn't allowed off her property, how she was starved and so badly hungry. She wanted to tell Todd she was afraid of herself because she had killed her parents. However Abby stopped herself because she could make a mess. This was a big deal, talking to Todd. He could still trick her, or try to spit slime at her again. His powers were pretty obvious, he took after a toad. Abby couldn't help but feel a little sympathetic. As a child Abby had loved frogs and toads, she had visited them daily by the pond and even named some, but she knew from the other kids at school, that most other kids thought toads and frogs were gross. "Mutants"or not Abby was sure there were people who didn't look kindly on Todd, she noticed in the way some people looked at him as they passed._

_Todd's treatment became the last thing on Abby's mind after that. He had gone silent for a moment and then had begun bombarding her with questions. "Have you tried ice cream before? Ever been to a fancy restaurant before yo? What about a roller coaster?" Needless to say, in the next three hours Abby became a little more accustomed to using her voice. She wasn't perfect, she still felt afraid to speak, still felt herself want to look at the ground when she spoke, but she she felt a little better about talking now. Maybe it was okay to talk sometimes. Eventually Todd and Abby decided on pizza. Abby liked pizza. It had been a weird thing to see, a slice of bread with cheese and red stuff, but once it entered her mouth she couldn't get enough of the greasy, cheesy slices they called Pizza. It wasn't until it came time to pay that Abby realised she had perhaps let her guard down a little too much. As the cashier gave her a total of five bucks, Abby pulled out the lone fifty dollar bill she had brought with her. At the sight of it Todd's eyes had gone wide._

_"Where did you get that?" Todd's voice was no longer excited, but decidedly neutral. A shock went through Abby as she carefully handed the bill to the clerk. It had been the same tone of voice he had used when introducing himself to her. Abby turned to look at Todd and saw that his eyes were dead locked on the money she held in her hand._ 'What's the big deal? There's nothing special about money. Hasn't he ever seen a fifty dollar bill before?'_ Abby thought back to the Brotherhood Boarding house. How even though it was incredibly large, it was broken down, worn and nearly worthless. Perhaps it was because the boys had no funds. Abby had never given much thought to money before. Her parents had always had it, and not being around other teenagers, she had never realised money to by stuff, was the number one thing most teens desired. Abby felt like telling Todd the truth, that she had thousands of it in her room, but something about the look in his eyes told her that if she confessed it would blow up in her face. Abby calmly collected her forty four dollars and tinkling coin change and lied, halfly._

_"I took it from someone." Abby whispered to him as they walked out of the pizza restaurant. Todd laughed as if theft was something everyday. He didn't question her after that, never even spared another glance at the change in her hand, or used that neutral tone in his voice again. Whatever trouble she had been about to get herself into she had avoided. _'I never thought I would ever have to lie about anything other than my parents and my…ability.'_ Abby thought guiltily to herself. The guilt bit into her skin and made her think of the the broken down Brotherhood house. It was a shame. Abby knew that financially, she could help beyond means, but somehow she couldn't bring herself to say anything. These people weren't nice to her. Todd was a miracle, a blessing. Still Abby wasn't silly enough to think that everything would turn out peachy keen from then on. If she was going to eventually offer help, she would need to feel safe. Still, the goodness inside of her, really, really, wanted to do something nice._

_"Um, Hey Todd? Do you think maybe, I we could get some things to bring home? For the others, I mean." Abby looked to her feet as she felt Todd's gaze on her._

_"Okay."_

**S**o here they were, the remaining money Abby had brought with her was gone, replaced with sugar cereals, chips, cookies and anything Todd had asked for. Abby hadn't minded, she had never been allowed junk food, even when her parents had relatively cared about her. She felt more nervous about what the boys reaction would be to her food, than what she had actually bought. She smiled at Todd again, knowing he probably wouldn't be so friendly once they got inside. As they stepped onto the porch and up to the door to hell, Abby chose to savour the moment of peace she felt. It was rare. Her stomach was full and she was enjoying the company of another person. Usually being in someone else's company meant being taught lessons, being hit, or being yelled at or insulted. This change, this, talking thing, Abby decided she liked. Maybe she would do it more often. Todd opened the door and let her though. She happily walked in only to nearly bump into a tall, slim, muscular form.

Maybe she wouldn't.

Abby looked up into the eyes of a very angry Quicksilver. Abby wasn't sure what was wrong. He seemed to always look pissed off when he saw her, but right now it seemed worse, like the other day when the boy with the spikes had insulted him, saying something abut Quicksilver's father. Pietro leaned closer to her, piercing her with his glare. He then seemed to finally notice the bags in her hand and he made to grab them but Abby was faster. It was only the most natural of her reflexes to pull away when someone reached for her.

"What's in the bag Miss Stutter?" He made to grab for them again but Abby once again shrank away before he could grasp them. She knew she should just hand it over, she had bought the food for everyone, but somehow she had pictured the delivery to be different. She watched as the tall brown haired guy, Lance walked drowsily into the hall, he saw Pietro first, then Abby and Todd. Todd took the moment to silently walk in front of A by and glare at Pietro. Pietro glared back and straightened himself to his full height. After a minute of confusion Todd suddenly changed direction and went up the stairs, not sparing Abby another glance and leaving her alone with a furious Quicksilver and an irritable Lance. Abby gulped. At least the strong guy wasn't around. Abby tried to straighten herself like Quicksilver had done, tried to make herself look tough and chose her words consciously.

"I um, I brought some food. Because, well, you guys don't seem to have any so..well.." Abby stopped herself unable to continue on with two tall guys staring at her like she had two heads. Finally Lance held out a gloved hand.

"Give it here then. Let's see what you brought in for us newbie." Abby wasn't sure if she liked the name, but she supposed it was better than 'bitch' or 'freak'. It was better than handing it over to the arrogant, cocky..and sort of nice looking Quicksilver. Abby held out the hand that was holding most of the bags but she was too slow. Before Lance could even make a move to take it Quicksilver had zipped in between them, snatching the bags from her. He stopped at the bottom of the stairs about fifteen feet away from where Lance and Abby stood. He began to tauntingly go through the bags, probably expecting broccoli and brussel sprouts. Instead his taunt came to a barely concealed excitement as he went through the contents.

"What have we got here? Hmm.. Chuncky Chocolate ice cream, oreos, fruit rolls, chocolate frosting, sasage sticks. _cupcakes_," Abby watched as Quicksilver pulled out her prized item. The cupcakes. The last birthday Abby could remember her parents celebrating, they had given her a non-fat carrot and banana cupcake with a non-fat organic hardened cream frosting. It sounded gross but for Abby it had been like getting to eat a super-duper-brownie-chocolate frosting cake. It had been sweet and once she had seen a real cupcake in the store she had excitedly placed them into the cart. Now Quicksilver held the chocolate rainbow cupcakes in his hand. It seemed the cupcakes were also the apple of his eye. Abby knew what was going to happen, maybe even before Pietro did. He was going to take those cupcakes.

"You can have whatever you want, I just want the, um, cupcakes your, um, holding." Abby cursed her self for not sounding as tough as she wanted to. Lance had carefully taken the other bags from her other hand and had been going through them as well but now his attention was on the situation.

"Just give them back Pietro." He sounded non threatening like it was no big deal but it was definitely a big deal to Abby. She took a step forward, trying to think of a way to get those cupcakes back. She couldn't catch him, she was too weak to take him, and her powers were an absolute never use sort of thing. The only thing Abby could think of doing was begging. But that just didn't seem right. Pietro wen't from furious to gloating now. He had something Abby wanted. He was in control. He dangled the package close to her and like a fool she made to grab at it, only to hvae it pulled away faster than her eyes could follow. It really wasn't fair that Quicksilver had super speed.

"You mean these pathetic little cupcakes? I don't know..I really like cupcakes. I think I'll keep them for myself." Pietro grinned as Abby tried in vain to get them back.

"Give them back!" Abby felt her voice raise a little, trying her best to fight and be angry instead of weak and upset. Quicksilver only grinned and disappeared. Cupcakes and all. Abby looked in distress to Lance. He simply shrugged his shoulders.

"Just cupcakes. If you can't handle that, you should really go back to where you came from." Abby frowned. Of course Lance wouldn't understand, and maybe she was being silly about simply chocolate. She sighed and was about to go into her room when the door opened from behind her. Abby and Lance other turned to see Mystique step through the door behind them. Seeing Abby she smiled that same mysterious, unsettling smile and continued to approach them. She noticed the grocery bags at Abby's feet and her smile widened to what looked to be a snide grin.

"I see food has finally been brought into this..house. I suppose I forget to leave to children money for food this month."

"Or hot water.' Lance muttered.

Mystique spoke, her voice smooth like velvet. She seemed almost..sarcastic. Like she was mocking them or something. Still, that wasn't exactly what was making Abby so upset at that moment. It wasn't mystique's tone, it wasn't the cupcakes anymore, it was what Abby knew would come.

* * *

**A**bby stood in the back yard with Mystique once again, this time in lose denim shorts and a black tank top. She was sweating and panting but felt good. Mystique had immediately ordered Abby to transform into a panther. It was hard and so painful, it felt like every inch of her skin was covered in Todd's slime when she transformed. But she did it, moderately fast too. Abby panted. She had transformed twice and already felt like she needed to stop but she wouldn't ask for a break, not with Mystique flying above her in the shape of an owl. Abby gazed in amazement. _'I want to be that.'_ Abby thought to herself. She didn't want to be a viscious animal like a panther. Maybe she could be something small, like a mouse or a turtle. The thought of being the owls prey suddenly made Abby shudder. Maybe the panther wasn't so bad after all, in a certain sense. Wild jeers awoke Abby from her thoughts. The boys weren't so secret about their observation tonight. They stood on the balcony to one of the rooms overlooking the yard.

Mystique suddenly dropped down beisde Abby. "Shut your mouths you idiots! You're making your team-mate nervo- actually." Mystique paused for a moment, obviously lost in thought. "Boys! Get your asses down here NOW! You're going to do some training!" Abby heard grumbles as she watched the boys go back inside with dread. She looked in terror at Mystique who looked back at her, no sympathy in her gaze.

"Abby. I have somewhere to be. The boys will train with you tonight and tomorrow night. Trust me, this will help you." Mystique did not say these words with kindness or gentleness. She left Abby standing dumbstruck in the grass to talk to her boys, then promptly flew off in owl form again. It all happened so fast. No one asked if Abby was okay with training with five, well hopefully four, guys who disliked her. Which she was definitely _not _okay with. She felt her breath quicken as the back door opened again to revealed the boys dressed in the same costumes she had seen them in the first time.

"But.."

"Scared?" A voice purred smoothly into her ear and Abby jumped as Pietro spun dizzy circles around her. It seemed he liked toying with her. Abbly looked over through his blurry wind to see Toad and Blob 'training'. It looked more like they were throwing things at each other while calling taunts. _'So Todd's power is to be toad-like. Pietro's power is super-human speed. Fred's power seems to be strength, and maybe something else. Lance's power though. Avalanche?'_ Abby looked around trying to spot Lance around Pietro's annoying dance. There he was, he was grinning. She'd never seen him grin.

"Let's shake things up! Come on Abby! You going to do something or what?!" Abby wanted to worry over his taunt but she couldn't because the second Lance stomped his foot into the ground, clenched his fists and looked to the skies, the ground began to split and shake. Abby couldn't help but let out a small scream as she lost her balance trying to get up and fell to her knees. _'Avalanche.'_ Abby thought darkly to herself. It felt like the world was coming to an end. If Abby hadn't been sweating before she sure as hell was now. She didn't bother to try and get up again and clenched her eyes shut desperately trying to ignore Lances howling laughter. She had to do something. Anything. But she couldn't change into a panther. She just couldn't. She could do something horrible. She could lose control. She could kill.

"Well? Are you going to do something?" Pietro had stopped spinning circles and was now yelling in her ear. _'What can I do? What can I do?'_ Abby's thoughts screamed in her head. She had to do something and soon. Todd now clung to a tree while Fred huddled on the ground. Lance continued splitting and shaking the earth while Quicksilver stood mockingly behind her. Abby's breath escaped her. She had to do something. She had to do something!_ 'The bear? What about the bear? No…that was different. I felt angry and protective. Now I feel..I feel…Stressed….high strung..'_ Abby wasn't sure of the picture her mind showed her when the word 'highstrung' crossed through her mind but in that moment Abby didn't care. Abby grabbed onto that picture and held on. The same feeling took over Abby. That click. That shift in gears. The next thrirty seconds felt like death.

Her skin ripped and burned as she was forced onto hands and knees. Her she felt her ribcage explode into something larger as her skin was covered in thick, short, rouch, carpet-like fur. Her nose burned more than anything through the entire thing. By the end Abby stood on two feet rearing into the air. Or should she say..two hooves. Abby's call came out as a high pitched whinie. The ground stopped shaking but being a horse Abby was already well beyond spooked. She whinnied again and charged for Lance who stared at her in shock. She reared again as she got to him, getting him in the side of the face while in his blind shock. Abby-horse then turned to make a break for somewhere, anywhere to run away but Fred blocked her path. She whinnied in fear and turned, to race in a new direction. Now Todd stood, cowering like a little girl, but still there, blocking the way. Abby felt herself begin to weaken and smelt her own fear. Felt her own sweat.

Things started to change again. Fear. Sweat. The blood running down Lance's cheek. In only seconds Abbys mane turned to the pointed ears of the black panther she'd being practicing turning into so much. Abby wasn't really sure what was going on now. It was like sitting in the passenger seat of a car. You could almost think you were driving, except of course you weren't. Abby felt herself turn once more to face Quicksilver. He stood there unmoving and unafraid.

"Here kitty kitty." Abby heard Pietro call her tauntingly Abby yowled. _'fear me'_ she tried to tell him. Things were getting dizzy now, she felt woozy. _'I'm a sick kitty.'_ Someone thought to herself. Oh, that some one was her. She was Abby. A piercing pain in her neck made Abby try to twist around. Quicksilver, she could see his feet. His hands pinched harder at her neck and Abby's dizziness increased.

"Just let go of it." She heard Pietro's voice in her ear again. This time it wasn't taunting. It wasn't kind either. It was just… Abby felt the click again. The unhinge of her blood. She felt her limbs become longer and human again. Quicksilver let go of her neck and Abby fell face first into the grass fighting to stay conscious. Her skin hurt. It hurt so bad. She rolled over and emptied her lunch as Todd came hopped over.

"Yo Abby that was sick yo! Scary but sick!" Abby wanted to reply but couldn't. She was so tired. She was in so much pain. All she could do was whimper as she fought to raise herself off the ground. Abby felt strong hands lift one of her arms, right after Todd rushed to take the other. Together Todd and Pietero dragged Abby across the yard to the back door where Lance was sitting, nursing his already swollen cheek. When they reached him Abby tried to say something but he abruptly stood up and walked off. He was clearly really, really mad. Todd laughed.

"Don't worry 'bout nothin' yo! Lance's just mad 'cause you got him!"

"Wan't to die pond spawn?!" Lances voice broke out through the darkness and Todd screamed in a way Abby had never heard before. Together the three of them made their way upstairs. Quicksilver was silent the entire time. Todd left them, once again reminding Abby of how 'cool' she was then went off to what she supposed was his room. Pietro still quiet, half carried her by himself into the room. Abby wanted to say something but she wasn't sure how. When he finally deposited her into bed she managed to speak a single word.

"Hurts." She managed to whimper as sleep called and her eyes began to close.

"It won't always. It will stop one day." Abby couldn't see Quicksilver anymore. Her eyes were closed and her brain had shut down.

* * *

**A**bby woke, she wasn't sure what day or what time it was. Her skin felt like it had been burned, and she stunk to the high heavens. She rolled over to get up but stopped when she noticed something rainbow on her nigtside table. Abby painfully rubbed the sleep from her eyes and squinted to get a better look.

It wasn't the whole package, but there, sitting on her night side table was a chocolate cupcake with rainbow coloured frosting**.**

**Chapter end.**

**Ahhhhh done. (:**


	6. Steps

**Paw Prints Chapter 6**

Warning: Blood, Sweat, and Tears. M for Mature.

**Steps**

**A**bby awoke once again, her muscles screaming in revolt to her movements. Her body was tired, her body was pained. Abby thought about what awaited her if she got out of bed. She thought about those mean boys and what they were possibly going to say to her. She thought of Mystique and all of the weird transformations she had been making the past couple of days.

Abby rolled onto her back, basking in the freedom to be able to melt into her sheets without the fear of adults coming in to hurt her. So much had changed, so much had happened. _'It hasn't even been a week, and already I've killed two people, began morphing into animals, and living in a house full of young men that dislike me.'_ Abby's eyes drifted to the night stand table where the crumbs remained of the cupcake. Why had Pietro done that? Left her a cupcake, like she had earned something. _'Did I earn anything?'_ She wondered to herself._ 'All I did, was lose control. I only succeeded into making this whole thing crazier.'_ Abby continued to think of her powers and how it had only been days ago when she had been struggling to change into a cat. Now she was pushing to change into more things, and at a faster rate.

Abby rolled onto her side to face the wall and closed her eyes, hoping to escape. Where was she living now? And why were these people so harsh and cruel? What happened to sanctuary and help? Ever since arriving Abby had been nothing short of being treated roughly the same as she had by her parents. Abby scrunched her eyes and suddenly the warm blankets felt too hot and itchy. As a matter of fact the whole past few days just didn't seem right. Abby opened her eyes and stared at the many bruises and scars that adorned her arms. Freedom. This was what she had longed for, for so many years. These people treated her horribly, but they didn't beat her, or lock her up. At least these people, Abby decided, treated her like she was something. Maybe not a hero, or a friend, maybe a stupid girl they didn't want, but it was something and this was the cost.

She rolled herself out of bed, conscious of her body's aches and pains. A repulsive odour made its' way to Abby's nose and she realised it was coming from herself. She gathered the clean towel she had found the other day right away and promptly opened her door a crack. _'Nobody's there.'_ She thought relieved. Abby dashed to the bathroom and locked the door, not that it would do any good of course. The lock looked like it had been kicked in several times. Abby didn't bother to stop and think why. She hastily turned on the water and stepped in, muffling her shriek of discomfort at the freezing water. Experience from the previous day told Abby there was no hot water in the house. She had no choice but to deal with the freezing temperatures as best as she could and get out as quickly as possible.

**P**ietro arose from his bed and clamoured into clean clothes as his mind began to wake. Another day of bloody high school, stupid, unintelligent people who couldn't possibly compare to him, cheerleaders and the X-geeks. Pietro snorted out loud to himself as he thought about the day ahead of him. Shit was never dull around the place. Pietro felt the usual signal that told him he needed to piss and walked out of his room and into the hallway. Same things, different day. Pietro wondered briefly to himself which girl he was going to hit on before class. He walked over to the bathroom door only to find it closed and he could clearly hear the shower running. Feeling the pain get more intense Pietro grew frustrated and debated kicking the door down, which he would usually do, until he realised there could be a girl in there. Pietro cursed, very loudly. _'The girl. Her, she's the damn problem! I hope she's enjoying that cold-ass shower.'_ He thought darkly to himself as he fought the urge to dance. _'I swear if it's Todd or Lance in there I'm going to kill 'em!'_ He thought murderously as the shower turned off. He waited a couple seconds before finally flipping.

"Enjoying your bathroom time? Get the fuck out!"

Pietro didn't care who was in there now, he had to take a piss! Pietro waited, and waited for a minute, which seemed like an eternity before the door finally opened. There came Abby, hair wet and body soaked, wrapped up neatly in a small towel. Pietro didn't care, he looked, then coughed and looked away after._ 'Not bad, might be hope for her yet'_ he looked again, eyeing the shape of her legs. They would be sexy, he realised, if it weren't for the bruises. He looked closer and realised there were fresh and fading bruises all over her body. She looked like she'd tried to take on the X-men all by herself. Something at that moment snapped in Pietro. The girl was bloody weak enough, who the fuck would want to even bother hitting her? _'Wait…what?'_ Pietro's mind spun into confusion. He felt himself caught between his dislike for the girl yet the feeling of wanting to kill whoever hurt her so bad. Also the undeniable urge to pee. He didn't want to see those bruises, he didn't want to think about what caused them. Pietro stopped looking all together and turned around.

**A**bby peered into the hall at Pietro and stepped out of the bathroom, unaware of what Pietro was thinking. "Uh, I'm sorry. The bathroom's free P..Pietro." She stuttered on his name, and wondered if it was the first time she'd said it. Abby awaited in fear of what Pietro was possibly going to say to her. Was he going to yell at her for being in there? Almost thirty seconds passed and Pietro didn't move.

"Uh..Pietro-"

"JUST GET OUT!" He yelled finally.

Abby skittered back to her room quickly in case Pietro was still on her tail. She wasn't quite sure what it was, but as usual it seemed she'd set him off. It never once occurred to Abby that Pietro, was just generally an ass to anyone. It didn't occur to her that he might be feeling just a little bit protective either. She went through her bag and fished out some fresh clothes. Jeans and a tank top, she carefully unwrapped the towel and gazed at her healing wound, the one that spike boy had given her. She had taken off the bandage to reveal a sore scab where then skin had been punctured. Finally it was healing and less painful. After putting on her clothes she made her bed and sat upon it thinking everything over; a habit she'd grown accustomed to as of late.

_'Is this my life now?'_ Abby wondered to herself. _'__What am I to do with myself? There's still so many questions.'_ Abby's world was aflutter with passing thoughts. Would anyone find out about her parents? What about those X people? Would she ever get good at her power? What was she supposed to do with her time? Abby looked around the dirty room she occupied and not wanting to be around her house-mates she decided it was time she maybe made it her own. Or at least cleaned it up.

Downstairs Lance and Pietro were arguing with each other.

"Fuck what Mystique says I'm not staying here with that weakling little freak." Pietro growled as Lance's frown grew deeper.

"I don't catre Pietro it's my jeep, im the one with the liscence so you can stay here. Bye." Lance quickly turned around and started walking out the door only to have Pietro whip in front of him.

"This isn't over Lance, I'm not a babbysitter."

**S**he watched as everyone piled into a heavily beat-up jeep. All together like a group. Abby felt a sharp pain strike her heart as she watched Lance start the jeep up and drive off. She had never had that. Would she ever have something like that? People who liked her? Accepted her? Treated her like she wasn't something…bad?

Cleaning her room proved to be difficult. She grabbed some garbage bags and began hauling the tons and tons of, seedy, dirty, smelly clothes into the bags. Many times under clothes were bugs, surprised and upset at being discovered they skittered across the floor. She hurried to stomp them out, using an old shoe she'd found lying around. After all the clothing had been put into bags she gathered them up in placed them in the corner of her room then she sorted the closet, making space and organizing. After that she swept, then mopped. At last remained her sheets and the bags of clothes. Abby knew how to do laundry, unlike whoever had previously occupied the room. However she had yet to spot a washer or dryer in the house. She tip toed down the stairs cautiously, listening for hostile sounds. She'd noticed that Pietro hadn't been with the others in the jeep, he must have been left behind with her and he was the last person she wanted to run into.

Two hours later she emerged from the Brotherhood's dark and dreary basement. Full of dark corners, spiders and odd garbage Abby was thankful to be finished with the laundry. It had taken a couple loads, not to mention the washer and dryer had been clearly broken and fixed multiple times, making it difficult and glitchy. Emerging into the light streaming into the room from the window made her want to go outside for fresh air. She stood beside the window, looking outside for a couple of minutes. Most of the time she was forbidden to go outside. She saw nothing but her parents property for years and now here she was, free and miles away from her prison. She longed to step outside but an old fear crept up her spine; years and years of torture built up as memories crept into her consciousness. Tears began to surface unexpectedly as the realization hit her that she was no longer controlled. Her parents were gone, she had run away from home, and was now in a strange place with more cruelty. Abby's tears didn't cease as she approached the back door. She had already been outside a couple of times now, it was almost as if things had never changed but then actually thinking of it Abby realised she was finally free of the chains that had kept her. She opened the door and stepped into the light she became completely absorbed in the sounds and smells assaulting her.

Abby finally had free time to explore something unfamiliar to her, yet she spent the majority of the time in one spot on the grass, simply enjoying the fact that she was there on her on free will. So many things were new, she felt it best to just let things settle before exploring. She lay down on the soft blades of grass under the shade of a tree and let her thoughts drift in and out of her mind at their own will. Her parents were dead, she was part of a Brotherhood now. _'Brotherhood. I guess that's what I belong to now. But there's no place for a weakling..'_ Abby thought guiltily of her powers and transformations.

So much had happened with her transformations. Using her powers just to turn herself into a panther was already far beyond her dreams, all the other animals she'd turned into had been beyond anything she could imagine. It was too much too fast, she could barely comprehend what was going on or what was happening to her. Yet the others seemed to think she wasn't good enough. They wanted more and more, like she'd been doing this all her life or something. What did they want from her? Abby didn't want to be a freak. All she wanted was to be accepted. She wasn't even sure if that was possible anymore.

She thought of the animals.. A panther, a bear, a horse… _'Argh this is way too strange. How can I just. WANT to turn into an animal? Why would I want to be different from the rest? Look at where it gets me."_

She remained under the tree for a while, thinking of her powers and animals. Panthers scared her. Abby recalled the feelings and thoughts she had felt while being in such a form. So hungry, so blood thirsty…so cold. She shuddered, awakened by the memories clouding her mind, she felt a burning in her arm and looked to see her arm covered in thick dark fur. Quickly she muffled her own scream at the sickly realization that she had called on her own powers. This wasn't what she wanted, nope, not at all. Then she looked back towards the Brotherhood house and thought of the mutants that belonged there.

She thought of the new world she had arrived in…where these powers were encouraged instead of shunned. All of the boys seemed to be egging her to prove herself. They seemed so desperate to display strength and control. It was almost as if being a mutant was a good thing. She bit her lip, still hearing the catcalls from the night before. They had tested her, considering her pathetic and she had shown them she was something else. And Mystique, so beautiful even with blue skin, flawlessly turning into any creature at will. She made it seem so easy, she looked so powerful. Abby sat thinking for awhile before coming to a conclusion. Maybe. Maybe she could give it another try.

Abby sat up and looked around. No one was around, maybe finally being by herself and feeling comfortable she could better figure out what was going on with her own body. But what would her goal be? Abby shuddered at the thought of turning into any of the animals she had already unintentional changed into. The idea came to her by sounds, she could hear the bark of a dog off into the distance and decided instantly it might be a good idea to turn into one. Dogs were mans best friend right? Deciding it better not to over think her choice she began to concentrate on changing.

Abby surprised herself by going quickly. She realized there was no relaxing when it came to transformations, the slower she was the more it hurt, so Abby pushed herself as fast as she could, ignoring the heave in her stomach and the dizziness in her head. She grabbed hold of a picture of a German shepherd she had seen once and didn't let it go. She forced herself to focus, gathering the body shape and features. She felt searing agony and realized not for the first time that this was probably a horrible idea, but she still clutched to the picture, imagining the heavy paws and thick coat. The long snout and deep bark. Slowly Abby felt almost a 'click' inside of herself as she realised the transformation was complete. She opened her eyes, shaken and shivering for the ordeal of changing. Finally she had changed without the pressures of an intense situation. She was free to explore her power on her own terms.

Blinking Abby realized she could no longer see in colour, everything was in black and white. _'Dogs are colour-blind I guess.'_ she realised. She examined her arms which were now long shaggy paws. She then shifted her behind and noticed she now had the use of another limb; a tail. She lay still for a few minutes, just getting used to the fact that she was now a dog and no longer human. She had never had the chance to properly get acquainted with the forms she'd been changing into before. She wondered about the bloodthirsty feelings but found it only vaguely when watching other animals smaller than her. She finally rose to her paws and trotted around the yard. At first she had thought it would be awkward but she was actually quite comfortable on four legs. And the energy! Abby felt like she could run for miles and suddenly she began to feel free. Maybe this wasn't all so bad after all. Abby began to explore her other new quirks. Though her sight was poor she found she didn't really need it. She could hear everything so much better, and everything smelled! She buried her nose in some flowers and inhaled the scent. It was so overpowering she sneezed. Shaking out her new thick coat Abby ran around the yard again, enjoying the raw power of her muscles. Suddenly she heard the latch on the back door opening, she sat down immediately unsure of what to do. She'd been caught!

**A**bby wasn't sure how much time had passed or how she had looked through such a thing but Pietro did. He'd heard her go out and had been watching from the bedroom window. It's not like Pietro was interested or anything there was just nothing better to do around the Brotherhood. Plus he WAS supposed to be keeping an eye on her. He watched her as she had made her gruesome transformation, it was much too slow, you could see it all happen right down to every skin-morphing detail. Still he was impressed with the large dog that remained, he'd often wondered what it'd be like to possess a different power. Of course his power was obviously always the best choice. He watched her explore the yard as a dog and couldn't resist the urge to go down there. He wasn't sure why or what inspired such an odd idea but instead of pondering it he chopped it up to supreme boredom and zipped downstairs to the back door.

He opened it to see the dog sitting waiting for him. As he stepped out he wasn't even sure what to say or why he was even there. She sat motionless, simply staring at him.

**A**bby watched Pietro approach, his expression unreadable. Her nose caught his scent and she made sure to remember it as his which wouldn't be a problem as she realised she liked it. He stopped in front of her and reached his hand out. Her first immediate instinct was to cower or bite but she held still, and felt his hand pat her head, which surprisingly felt very good.

"Nice little doggy." Pietro chimed in a falsely cheery voice. He dropped his hand then sneered at her. "But you're still so weak you couldn't take on even the weakest X-geek. Go home runt, you don't belong with the Brotherhood" With his message clear Pietro walked back into the house making his exit known. Well, it least that had passed some time.

He slammed the door closed behind him and made his way back to his room determinded not to think about the girl anymore. His leg ached from his skirmish with Evan. Why'd he even bother defending her against them? He sat on the bed, his thoughts drifting to his father. Magneto was looking for a leader, he was looking for his son to show promise. His father wanted the girl, one more member meant one more chance against the odds. Pietro thought about the girl's powers and about how they were rapidly growing, yet she still wasn't even close to the level of the other mutants, yet he also realised she was not useless, or the weakest anymore, if only she'd learn to attack, if only she'd talk.

**A**bby spent the rest of the afternoon in dog form, running around and getting used to being something else. She no-longer thought the idea of changing to be so terrifying, throughout the days events her curiosity had grown. What would it be like to fly? To breath under water? Abby realised changing into an animal offered an escape, and experiences not possible for humans. It seemed every animal had something unique that humans didn't. Abby also thought about battle, about fighting, how strong and fearsome some animals were. She thought about what Pietro had said and felt a hot and bothered feeling creep up her spine. She was trying her best! And yet it seemed like it was never good enough. Abby thought about turning into that bear again, about standing taller than Pietro and scaring him away for hurting her feelings. One second he way stealing her cup cakes, the next he was leaving one behind.

She was trying.

The sun began to set and Abby made her way back to the house in fox form this time, changing so much made her tired and nauscious, she still wasn't even sure if she liked her power, or even that she had it. Fox form felt strange, like the dog but more cat-like and graceful. Her sense of smell wasn't as good but her hearing was, her ears pricked at the sounds coming from the house. Laughter and loud-talk. Abby found she ccould understand humans only if she was concentrating and paying attention, the rest of the time they just sounded loud and yappy. As she approached the voices became louder and more aggressive. She was beginning to feel like not even going in but she knew she couldn't run forever. She was tired and so hungry she was worried if she stayed in such a state so long she'd never be able to turn back. She stepped to the back of the house and ignored the natural instinct to flee back to the forest. She sat down on her haunches, and relaxed, trying a new technique of shapeshifting. She'd always thought of changing as like a rubix cube, things shifting and breaking. Now she pictured Mystique and the beautiful melting of shifts between forms. Abby pictured it and concentrated on turning herself back as hard as she could.

It wasn't as smooth, and Abby imagined, not as pretty as Mystiques transformation but it was something and that was enough for Abby. Afterwards she lay panting and sweating against the house on the ground, so weak and tired and sore the days events.

Suddenly the back door slammed open and Tood stepped out. Not seeing her he looked around the yard until he finally saw her and jumped a little in surprise.

"Oh Abby, there you are, Pietro said I'd find you here. Mystique says you gotta start your first day of school tomorrow yo."

Abby froze and felt her heart tighten and her jaw drop. _School? _It felt like her whole body had been dipped in ice.

"Oh." Was all she could manage as she rapidly tried to collect her composure. School wasn't a place she'd thought of really being. It brought back the memories of her childhood, the other kids and the horrible inncident that had led to the beginning of her suffering.

She felt her world sway with a sudden pitch in her stomach at the thought of something even worse happening but she quickly shook her head to be rid of the thoughts. Abby knew she would have to be strong now, all she had was herself and the horrible people she was living with. _'Life hasn't really improved much…'_

**T**he next day started off in a hurry, loud yelling and banging on her door awakened Abby with a start, making her wonder if it was her parents. There was no time to dwell on the horror as the banging on her door continued. It was suddenly slammed open as Lance barged in, in nothing but jeans, his chest toned and obvious. Abby shot out of bed with a start, not sure if he'd come in to beat her or yell. She quickly averted her gaze after seeing his shirtless torso, she'd never seen such an attractive male in real life before. The blush made her face as red as a tomatoe.

"Good you're up, next time I wont be bothering to knock. We leave in twenty mintues better hurry up." Lance looked like he was about to say something else and Abby paused in fear but he simply turned around and left, slamming her door behind him. She shook her head, ignoring her fear and the nervous feeling she got from seeing him without a shirt. She ruffled through her bag and pulled out a pair of jeans and a long sleeved shirt. She had no choice but to roll with the punches and push forward, it was the only way she would possibly survive.

The rest of the morning skipped by in a blur for Abby. From the crowded traumizting ride to the school, from the intensery large crowds to the intimidating principals' office.

Abby discovered that she wasn't as alone as she thought she was. On her way to the principals office Lance and Todd had guided her, quietly pointing out other mutants to her, explaining how many of them were "X-Geeks", mutants part of an organization fighting the Brotherhood. They warned her strictly to keep away from them. Some of the X-Geeks saw them, and Abby was afraid they'd be approached, but the morning crowds were too thick and the group passed uninterrupted.

After Abby waited to see the principal in the waiting room, finally alone she took a few moments to breath. So many crowds, she'd never felt so squashed and smothered before. So many eyes, so many people. Abby felt her heart flutter strangely and the tingles of a change began to creep her but she shoved it down, thinking instead of the number of ceiling tiles she could count while she waited. She had to remain in control and on top of her feelings.

Strangely Abby was not surprised when the face of the principal melted into blue skin and gold eyes. Knowing that Mystique was in charge of the school made Abby feel much safer, like she had some sort of protection. As she left Mystique's office with her timetable and directions to her first class she wondered if she was really cut out for a life of high school. Would she make it?

Abby's first class was shared with Todd, science. She wondered if she should talk to him, but her seat was far away from his, and there wasn't much of a chance with so much attention on her. So many eyes, all watching and judging. It made her invisible, transparent, like everyone was looking straight through her mind, and making their own decisions. The whole ordeal made it nearly impossible to concentrate on the lesson.

Her second class was no better, there was no one she knew and it was louder with kids much more obnoxious. A couple of girls walked up to her and asked questions. Where was she from? What school had she attended before this? Abby hadn't thought about having to talk to people or make excuses, she lied quickly, explaing that she was from out of town and was living on her own. Most of her answers were excuses and brush offs, she was afraid of the other students and realised she wasn't sure if she knew how to make friends. Would they all sneer and insult her like the Brotherhood boys and her parents?

Her third class was gym, and they shared a field with a boys sophmore class. Both classes were told to run laps as a warm up together and Abby couldn't help but feel more nervous than ever with so many older boys around. She noticed another classmate of hers catching up to match her pace with effort. She was small and pale with a bouncy brown ponytail. At first Abby felt nervous until she noticed the girl was smiling in a friendly way. Abby allowed her to catch up and waited for what was to come.

"Um like, yea, hey, I'm like, Kitty and I totally noticed you're like, new so I thought you'd want some company." The girl had a high-pitched voice and an accent from the hills. She sounded like an airhead but at least she was friendly.

"Um, yeah sure, I'd like that." Abby jogged in silence for a moment wondering how to continue the conversation but found she didn't have to. The girl, Kitty, started yaking immediately. Abby didn't mind much, Kitty blabbed about the school, the cute boys, certain teachers. Abby found it nice to simply listen to what was normal teen conversation. It was completely surreal to think about things like her favorite teacher, or the cutest boy in her math class. She was about to make an attempt at holding her end of the converstion when a body went speeding by, right between them almost knocking Kitty over.

"Watch where you're going Pryde, maybe you should be walking with the rest of your geeks." Abby looked up in shock to see Pietro running just ahead, looking back to chuckle at Kitty's enraged face.

"Like, fuck you Pietro go run off like, a cliff or something!" Kitty slowed her pace and disappeared behind the mob of runners, Abby continued running now feeling more lonely than ever. The one friend it seemed like she was about to make had been scared off by Pietro. Why had he done that?

Pietro slowed his speed just slighty to take Kitty's place at Abby's side. She blushed under his gaze and looked away, unused to running along someone so intimidating and handsome and now he was looking at her. Pietro seized Abby for the thousandth time it seemed. Always so fragile and sick-looking, yet always keeping up with what was thrown at her. It amazed him now she could even run for so long, he'd imagined her like Kitty, small and useless.

"Be grateful I'm allowing you in my presence. Stay away from the X-Geeks if you know whats good for you." and before Abby could even ask what he'd meant Pietro zipped off again, running faster than the rest of classmates. She watched him running until he was at the other side of the track. She watched him forcefully break up another group of kids and gasped stopping dead in her tracks.

There was Kitty in the group of students, and there was the spike boy who had been there the night she'd come to Bayville. The people who had attacked her were at the school.

Abby excused herself for the rest of the class and hid herself in the bathrooms, vomiting twice and trying to control the shakes from the fear she was feeling. Would they attack her again? So was Pietro's warning a meaning that Kitty belonged with the people who attacked her? Why had he cared to warn her anyway? The bell rang and Abby excited the bathroom and found her way to her locker, glad to finally have lunch.

After a couple of tries she had opened her locker and had successfully dumped her things inside of it, she didn't notice the approaching shadow behind her. When she looked up ready to close her locker she jumped back and uttered a yelp. Leaning on the locker next to her was the red haired boy, another one of the members who had attacked her. He now wore red sunglasses and regular clothing but he was definitely the same person. The rest of the world seemed to dissapear as she felt her breath quicken and her fear elevate to new hieghts. Would he attack her right now? Was she prepared to fight?

Abby felt the fluttering in her chest that signified and impulse change, she fought to control it as the world around her came rushing back. She was at school, there were students everywhere. Abby wasn't she what she was changing into, but she couldn't let it happen. She took a couple stumbles back her eyes looking around wildly.

The guy stood up straight and took a step towards Abby. "Hey. Can I talk to you?" Abby felt her heart beat a mile a minute as she fought the change. She didn't want to talk, she didn't want to be here. The man took another step towards her and all of a sudden a fist slammed into the locker in front of him followed by a heavy set body belonging to Lance, Pietro at his side seconds later.

"Fuck off one-eye, find someone else to bother with your bullshit." The ground shook and his tone was the angriest she'd heard so far. The guy's shades began to glow and Abby was sure there'd be a fight when all of a sudden another attacker appeared out of nowhere.

"Scott don't!" The girl with the mind powers ran up to the guy with the sunglasses. Her long red hair was tied up and she cast the nastiest look towards Lance and Pietro as she latched herself to Scott's shoulder. The sunglasses guy named Scott backed off immediately, his arm around the girl. Pietro began to laugh as they retreated and without casting a single glance towards Abby he took off towards the cafeteria.

Abby calmed down, the attackers no longer in eye view. Her change had stopped and it seemed she was safe. Todd joined her and Lance at this point and they all walked silently to the cafeteria. The room was huge and full of other students of all different grades on their lunch periods. So many different tables with so many different clicks. She meekly followed Lance and Todd and sat down at a table after grabbing some lunch. Fred was already there eating like a maniac but she noticed Pietro at a different table. Todd notcied her looking.

"Yeah, Pietro's really popular with the ladies yo. He likes the pretty girls with pompoms." He laughed as if it was funny but for some reason Abby didn't think it was. He was surrounded by the most glamorous girls she'd ever seen, and even at such a distance she could see they were clearly fighting for his attention like newborn pups. Abby wanted to be sick. Turning back to her lunch she realised Lance had left them to join another table. There he sat with Kitty, beside a table with a lot of kids looking on angrily. Abby noticed the two redheads amoung them and shuddered.

"Those are the X-Geeks, well most of them yo. They're trouble don't mess with them." Abby nodded in silent agreement and continued with her lunch, glad she wasn't alone and occasiionaly casting glances at Pietro's table.

Her last class was another shared class with upperclassmen. She noticed Lance and a pale boy with bluish/blackish hair who waved at her in a friendly way. Abby quickly ignored him and turned back to her work, she'd seen him earlier a couple of times and knew he was also apart of the x-geeks although she wasn't sure who he was. She was paired up with a girl named Rogue on a computer program. The girl didn't smile or try to seem friendly. As a matter of fact she didn't seem interested in anything at all. Halfway through the class Rogue randomly walked out and didn't return for the rest of the class. Abby tried not to take it personally.

When the last bell finally rang Abby was happy to have completed her first ever day of high school. It had been nervewracking and terrifying. She gotten lost around every corner and had seen every kind of teenager to possibly exist. Now she wove through the parking lot towards Lance's jeep, the feeling of relief gracing her shoulders as she knew she could finally leave. Everyone gathered around the car except for Pietro, he was nowhere to be seen. She wanted to ask but suppressed the urge. She probably wouldn't get an answer anyway. The ride home seemed to zip by in no time and before she knew it they were arriving back to the Brotherhood.

Abby realized she actually felt almost comfortable arriving there, even if it was just another home of horrors. Perhaps now it would her home. They walked into the house Abby trailing behind the boys, quietly listening to their casual banter when all of a sudden everyone went silent as they walked into the kitchen. Abby squeezed in behind Fred and wished instantly she hadn't.

There was Pietro, standing in between the legs of a very pretty girl wearing a very pretty short skirt who was sitting on the counter. Pietro's shirt was off and his hand was under the girl's shirt as they kissed passionately. The silence lasted only a few moments before a roaring of laughter broke out from the boys, hackling and teasing Pietro and the girl he was with. Abby took that moment to slip away and quietly run up the stairs to her room. She quickly clossed the door and jumped onto her bed, stuffing her face into the pillow pretending to drown out the voices from downstairs while really trying to burn away the image of Pietro and the girl.

Her parent had never shown love for each other and Abby had never been around enough people to see that sort of thing. She knew about sex but she'd never seen something so raw and in her face. She blushed again trying to ignore the scene replaying itself over and over in her head. She just couldn't ignore the small voice in the back of her head wondering.. Would something like that ever happen to her?

She didn't come out of her room for the rest of the night and received no knocks on her door. It wasn't like anyone cared. She was thankful Mystique hadn't shown up for training but she knew sooner or later Abby would have to face her once again. The whole world was upside down and she had no idea where she was going.

**_Chapter 6 End._**

**_Hey guys sorry that took basically forever. Read and Review :)_**


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